A Universal Music executive has described YouTube and MySpace as “copyright infringers” they need to “deal with.” “The poster child for [user-generated media] sites are MySpace and YouTube,” Universal Chief Executive Doug Morris said during a Merrill Lynch investors’ conference Tuesday (Sept. 12), according to Reuters. “We believe these new businesses are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars. How we deal with these companies will be revealed shortly.”
In August, YouTube revealed it was in talks with record labels to allow users to watch every music video ever made, but hadn’t figured out how to offer that service for free. Universal has reportedly been in negotiations with both sites to offer its artists’ music legally at no charge to users. Morris also referred back to the inception of MTV 25 years ago, when labels allowed the station to air their artists’ music for free. MTV “built a multibillion-dollar company on our [music]…for virtually nothing,” Morris said. “We learned a hard lesson.”
On SPIN.com:
YouTube to Air Every Music Video Ever Made. Ever.
YouTube Sued for Coyright Infringement
The Next Generation of Digital Music?
Talk: Will the major labels and movie studios be able to stop YouTube?
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On the Web:
youtube.com
myspace.com
universalmusicgroup.com
