German court rules that YouTube must filter content
YouTube must filter content uploaded by users, a German court ruled Friday.
YouTube was taken to court for copyright infringement in uploaded videos by German music royalty collecting society GEMA, which said that the Google-owned video site isn't doing enough to block copyright-protected music videos.
YouTube argued that it was simply a platform and not responsible for the user-generated content. In what may look like a compromise, the Hamburg District Court on Friday ruled that the video site is liable, but only after it has been informed of the copyright infringement. However, the court wants to see YouTube implement more efficient filtering software, such as word filtering, to block illegal content uploaded by users, said court press officer Conrad Mueller-Horn.