Mainichi Daily News reported:  Closet pop idols breathed a little easier Thursday after the announcement of a deal between video site YouTube and a large recording rights body, allowing punters to record and post their own versions of songs by major artists like Mr. Children and Spitz without fear of legal reprisal.

Japan Rights Clearance Inc. (JRC) announced that it had made a comprehensive contract with YouTube’s parent Google over the use of about 5,000 recordings that JRC manages.

It is the first time that Google has struck a contract with a rights management company in Japan over the use of music.

Under the contract, Google will pay an undisclosed royalty to JRC on behalf of YouTube users. In turn, JRC will no longer ask Google to delete videos of users’ cover versions of songs by JRC artists, except where they defame the artist.

However, users can still be accused of violating the Copyright Law if they post footage from music TV programs or music DVDs without permission, since those copyrights are also shared by broadcasters and record companies.

A similar deal between Japan’s largest rights management body, the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC) and video sites run by Yahoo! Japan Corp. and two other companies has been in place since July last year.

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Chosun reported, “YouTube has launched a Korean version of its popular video sharing website. The company said at a press conference at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday that it began its Korean service that day, at www.youtube.co.kr.”"Established in February 2005, YouTube is the world’s largest video sharing website, with tens of thousands of new video clips being posted every day.”

“Google acquired YouTube in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion. Korea is the 19th country with a localized version, following countries like Britain, France and Australia.”

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