Challenged to provide proof their right to have the video removed, UMG sent YouTube’s legal department a letter in which they effectively claimed that a special agreement with YouTube meant that they did not need to have a specific copyright claim on a video’s content in order to have it removed via the content management system.

In the course of preparing this morning’s story I sent requests for comment to YouTube, and to Kelly Klaus, the lawyer for UMG who sent the letter. While no response from Mr. Klaus has been forthcoming, I just received a response from a YouTube spokesperson, who had this to say:

Our partners do not have the right to take down videos from YT unless they own the rights to them or they are live performances controlled through exclusive agreements with their artists, which is why we reinstated it.

There you have it. UMG did not have any exclusive agreement with YouTube that would allow them to remove the video.

Rio Caraeff, executive vice president of Universal Music Group’s eLabs and head of their digital group, told CNET:

[YouTube] is not like radio, where it’s just promotional. It’s a revenue stream, a commercial business. It’s growing tremendously. It’s up almost 80 percent for us year-over-year in the U.S. in terms of our revenue from this category.

The tens of millions are part of $100 million in video streaming revenue for the company. The money comes from not only a partnership with YouTube, but other sites including MTV, iMeem and MySpace. Three years ago, UMG made nothing from their videos.

While this is a good sign for YouTube in terms of growth and monetization, which has been a major focus for the site this year, as CNET points out, the results may be more about UMG’s efforts than YouTube’s:

Universal’s YouTube channel is overwhelmingly the largest on the video site. The record label is the all-time most viewed channel, with nearly 3 billion views. Second-place Sony BMG, the second largest recording company, trails by more than 2 billion views with 485 million total views.

Of the top 10 channels on YouTube, 7 are music related. They include channels from Warner Bros. Records, Soulja Boy, and Disney’s Hollywood Records.

Caraeff says that there’s also more to come:

“We’re working with them on a variety of new concepts and new businesses to take the groundwork we’ve done in the last year and half and do a lot more with it,” he added. “I wouldn’t expect to see us just do business with YouTube like we used to do.”

Earlier this month, YouTube also vowed that there would be more to come in terms of monetization for the site. Any guesses what we’ll see next year?

via

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As a spokesperson wrote in an email to WebProNews, “imeem is the first and only social networking service to secure licenses from all four major music companies (Warner Music Group, EMI Music, Sony BMG, and UMG) to give consumers free streaming access to their music and video.”

That means just about every artist you can think of (this latest deal adds names like Guns N’ Roses, Johnny Cash, and Queens of the Stone Age) can be heard at Imeem.com.  And to repeat a significant point: it’s all free.

That’s possible due to a revenue-sharing program.  The details of the program have not been made public, but it’s reasonable to assume that Imeem has been rather generous; just seven months ago, Imeem was actually being sued by Warner Music Group.  Coming such a long way in such a short time can’t be due to charisma alone.

Regardless, we’re pleased to hear about the UMG announcement, and believe it could cause Imeem’s current user counts (19 million unique visitors per month and 50,000 new registered users per day) to skyrocket.

Malkin has not just pulled fellow pundits Laura Ingram and Bill O’Reilly in on the Akon/Verizon affair, but also enlisted the Electronic Frontier Foundation in her spat with Universal Music Group and YouTube. That puts YouTube in the middle of one hairy controversy.

Malkin appeared on the Laura Ingram show to discuss her successful campaign against Verizon, getting the telecommunications giant to drop their sponsorship of Akon and Gwen Stefani’s tour, as long as Akon was opening for her.

Malkin brought along a clip of Akon simulating rough sex with a teenage preacher’s daughter on a Trinidad stage (I know, right?). To spread the message farther about Akon’s less-than-Christian deeds (the usual: misogyny, vulgarity, violence, crime), Malkin posted her complaints, along with the concert footage, on YouTube.

Shortly after, UMG hit YouTube with a DMCA takedown notice, claiming copyright infringement. Michelle’s screenshot of the message that replaced her video credits "a copyright claim by Universal Music Group," but that message now reads "due to a terms of service violation."

It is unclear why the change in language occurred, or whether YouTube will reconsider after Malkin’s counterclaim of fair use.

"We believe this is a clear attempt by UMG to hide the truth about Akon and intimidate critics," said Malkin.

Between Malkin and UMG is a hard enough spot to be in, but add the EFF into the melee and you’ve got yourself a first class nightmare. The EFF called UMG’s actions an "improper attempt to silence her online criticism of one of its artists."

"It is impermissible and irresponsible for copyright holders to use the DMCA as a pretext to squelch criticism," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl in a statement.

"Ms. Malkin had every right under copyright law to criticize UMG and Akon, and to use footage of Akon to emphasize her point. Criticism and commentary are not only the core of fair use, but vital to our traditions of free speech."

The EFF has been on quite a tear lately, also putting it to famous telekinetic (sure) spoon-bender Uri Gellar for similar actions on YouTube.

It looks like the barrage of copyright litigation targeting social networking websites isn’t going to let up anytime soon.

Universal is seeking $150,000 in damages for each copyrighted song found on a MySpace user profile, which is probably more than Universal artist Ashlee Simpson will see in record sales for the foreseeable future.

Of course, one can’t really blame Universal for trying to protect its own financial interests by blocking the presentation of the label’s content on MySpace pages. After all, I’m sure users are chomping at the bit to feature music from the Brokeback Mountain original motion picture soundtrack on their profiles, right?

Both MySpace and YouTube have come under scrutiny in recent days as distributors are exerting increased legal pressure to negotiate compensation agreements or be faced with the prospect of a long and drawn out litigation process concerning copyrighted content posted by users on these sites.

In this case, however, the issue may not be as much about copyright but perhaps more indicative of the trigger-happy posture that the legal department at Universal Music is taking as of late.

The company has also issued a cease and desist letter to websites that are hosting a video that features Bank of America employees belting out their own rendition of U2′s “One” in celebrating the company’s recent acquisition of MBNA.

John Murrell of Good Morning Silicon Valley advises fans of the band to “be advised that continued humming of U2 melodies will result in further legal action.”

In further news, my legal counsel has informed me that I could be facing potential legal liabilities for my performance of Nelly’s “Country Grammar” at a local karaoke establishment this past weekend.

Who knows, maybe getting sued will give me more “street cred” in the long run.

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Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

Startup SpiralFrog signed an agreement this week with UMG, to open up the company’s music catalog, which includes music from GWAR to Johnny Cash. Songs and videos will be available for download in the U.S. and Canada on an ad-supported network, complete with digital rights management (DRM) technology embedded. That means it has to stay on the computer if you want it for free.

“Offering young consumers an easy-to-use alternative to pirated music sites will be compelling,” said Robin Kent, SpiralFrog’s CEO. “SpiralFrog will offer those consumers a better experience and environment than they can get from any pirate site.”

That “better experience” he speaks of means the ability to download legal digital files (no RIAA legal notices) with no viruses or spyware.

“We want to provide the best environment for everyone – our partners and the recording artists, as well as consumers,” Kent said. “Piracy continues to be one of the biggest issues facing the music industry where illegal file sharing and unauthorized CD burning are the prime means of music piracy. Digital rights protection will help us combat piracy and provide peace of mind for the record labels and the artists.”

Kent cited research indicating that consumers are more than willing to ‘pay’ for their content by watching targeted advertising online, where ads are part of the usual landscape.

“We believe SpiralFrog will deliver an audience we highly desire and need to reach,” said advertiser Oscar Feldenkreis, Vice-Chairman, President and COO at Perry Ellis International, Inc.

“Our audience is heavily into music and can be more easily reached on the web. We see SpiralFrog as an ideal place for us to communicate and build lasting relationships with our core audience and which give us unique new revenue opportunities.”

The rhetoric they use takes to fun right out of it. Leave it to grey-suits to take free music and turn it into a PowerPoint presentation. Next they’ll be using the phrase ‘target audience.’

“Our target audience is the driving force behind the changes in how music is created, discovered and consumed,” Kent said. “They are the future of music.”

I knew it. A target audience is never the driving force behind how music is created, Mr. Kent. It’s the driving force behind how Paris Hilton is created, whom we can have less of, thank you.

SpiralFrog’s target audience is between the ages of 13 and 34, what Kent called “an advertiser’s dream.” Sigh. Is it a music-centric experience, too?

“This is the core audience we will attract by building a music-centric experience and destination that is second to none, legally delivering what the majority of users want – content they pay for only with their time. It’s content that advertisers are willing to pay for on their behalf.”

Figured as much. Better leverage your core-competencies and best practices in order to propel your client-server architecture into a ubiquitous multimedia experience. While you’re doing that, the rest of us are gonna rock the @$%! out!

Thanks for the free music anywayjust as long as you don’t pull an AOL or Sony and start rooting around in our computers and popping up advertising every 30 secondsyou’re not, are you?

SpiralFrog will launch in beta later this year.

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