Google and GEMA Each with a Partial Win in Court Ruling, The Latest in Tech Industry Court Dealings

By Webimax Company | April 25 2012 7:56 AM

Between patent infringement, copyright infringement, and privacy battles, court litigation has become a mainstay in the technology industry for some time now. This trend is not troubling however as it is simply the byproduct of an industry that is constantly on the verge of innovation and new territory and thus continuously forcing new applications of the existing legal framework. This is only furthered by the varying legal systems that are in place in different countries throughout the world where technology companies have expanded their operations.

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As the industry is driven by the internet, every corner of the globe is part of this landscape, albeit to different degrees. With often different interpretations of how issues should be approached or resolved, businesses find themselves potentially fighting numerous battles in different countries with the same issues. Now, the court ruling between Google and GEMA in Germany is the latest installment of legal rulings on the issue of copyright infringement that could potentially set a precedent going forward, at least in that country.

Google & GEMAWith Google's acquisition of YouTube several years ago, they have had to address copyright concerns repeatedly pushing them to make licensing agreements with roughly 40 collecting groups protecting and gathering royalties for musicians and artists in countries around the world. GEMA, a music royalty collector in Germany recently brought a suit against Google for them to do more in removing music videos on YouTube that infringe on musicians' rights.

A Hamburg court ruled partially in favor of both parties requiring Google to use software to monitor and detect future videos that violate copyright infringement but does not require them to address all videos currently up live. The ruling affirms the importance of copyright protection but also recognizes YouTube as a platform that violators use, not YouTube as the violator.

The YouTube platform is used heavily by video marketers looking to gain wider exposure for their clients. SEO companies can assist these businesses in the strategy behind their videos and in the marketing of them post-production to optimize their details in order for them to show in favorable positions in search engine results pages (SERPs). The court rulings are important for copyright laws and videos that infringe on them, but companies videos will largely stay clear of this issue.

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