Can YouTube be primarily liable for users' infringements?
Who's responsible for making this video available: (a) the user-uploader (b) YouTube (c) both of them (d) Merpel (e) no one Can YouTube be considered primarily responsible (and, therefore, potentially liable) for the making available of user-uploaded content through its platform? In other words: can YouTube be considered as directly making acts of communication to the public? This is the crucial question Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) will need to address in a case ( I ZR 140/15) that was heard last week. The decision is due on 13 September. The case As summarized by the BGH press office, the claimant in this case is a music producer who has sued Google/YouTube over the unauthorized making available, on the defendants’ platform, of videos containing musical works from the repertoire of soprano Sarah Brightman . The claimant had signed an exclusive contract with this singer in 2006, allowing him to exploit recordings of her p...