Facebook In Talks With Record Labels To Allow People To Use Copyrighted Music On Their Videos

Facebook has been focused on bolstering its video platform for the last several months. Now, it looks like the social media giant is planning on taking another step in that same direction by getting music licensing deals.

Facebook is said to be meeting with music publishers, record labels and trade associations, according to Bloomberg. The report claims that Facebook wants to secure the rights to copyrighted music so that its users will be able to upload videos without worrying about it being taken down due to copyright infringement.

Facebook believes that by securing copyrighted music, it will further encourage its users to upload videos. Currently, Facebook will have to either take down or prevent users from uploading videos that contain label-owned music, as pointed out by TechCrunch. If Facebook is able to secure deals with music labels, users won’t have to worry about uploading videos with copyrighted songs.

Facebook’s plans are in its infancy, but the company is trying to reassure labels that it has infrastructures to fight copyright infringement in user-generated videos, according to Digital Trends. This is perhaps the very same tool that was leaked late last year.

It was reported by Billboard back in December 2016 that Facebook was developing a copyright ID system. The tool would allow record labels and right owners to take down videos that use their music without their permission, or they can make money by becoming a beneficiary of a revenue share from ads shown on a user’s video.

If Facebook’s copyright ID system is implemented successfully, this can position the social network giant as a direct competitor of Google’s YouTube. Music is the most popular type of content that’s consumed on YouTube, and yet the video site has been criticized for its lax security in deterring copyright infringement.

The music industry is currently on the rise again thanks to paid online services like Spotify and Apple Music. Striking a licensing deal with Facebook could provide billions in new music sales through ads thereby generating another stream of revenues.

However, music labels are understandably worried that their sales growth may be hampered if they license their songs to another free service like Facebook.