YouTube to pay out to French artists

Paris: Google’s YouTube unit will pay three French artistic collection agencies for the use of their members’ works, continuing an effort to cool tensions with creative groups and regulators in France.

YouTube will compensate screenwriters, directors, playwrights, and other artists represented by the SACD, SCAM, and ADAGP agencies, the groups said in Paris. The revenue-sharing model for the deal, which will cover works viewed in France and be retroactive to YouTube’s 2007 entry into the French market, hasn’t yet been fully determined, they said.

Google, the owner of the world’s largest search engine, is trying to build stronger relationships with regulators and copyright holders in France, where it has attracted scrutiny over its mapping, book-scanning, and advertising systems.