YouTube inks licensing deals with Universal & Sony

YouTube has signed new licensing agreements with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. The long-term deals, reached after two years of negotiation, establish royalty rates for Universal and Sony artists whose videos are uploaded to YouTube, as well as any user-generated clips, including song covers. The deals state that YouTube will police copyright infinrgement more aggressively, and also help set the stage for a rumoured paid streaming service, tentatively called Remix, slated to launch next year. As part of the terms of its agreement with YouTube, Universal will be able to contril which songs and videos appear on ad-supported channels and which appear on the forthcoming paid service.