email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

INDUSTRY Germany

More responsability for online content providers, says GVU

by 

Film streaming portals such as kinox.to, or, until a few weeks ago, Megaupload, host digital content to which they have not acquired the legal rights. Those who upload content onto the websites are paid cash rewards, and the infringing material is available for free online, thereby generating important revenues from advertising.

Today, these portals have to remove content if they are informed that it is infringing, but they don’t actually have to take the initiative in doing so. German anti-piracy outfit GVU (Gesellschaft zur Verfolgung von Urheberrechtsverletzungen) is trying to change this.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

“It could be that, among all the content downloaded or watched en masse by internet users, there is also legal content,” says GVU director Matthias Leonardy, although he notes this would be the exception among all the “attractive content for the masses, such as films, series, and video games.”

The business model of these providers is doomed to illegality or bankrupcy, Leonardy explains. “The video of Uncle Günther’s holiday in Sauerland does not attract masses of users,” he writes in a recent press release. Yet these companies desperately need to generate profit through advertising, notably to reward those who upload infringing content to their servers.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from Spanish)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy