Music body joins YouTube battle

A major US music industry body has joined other businesses in seeking to sue video-sharing website YouTube.

The National Musical Publishers Association says some songwriters are not being properly compensated when their music appears on site.

However YouTube says it stays within the law by immediately taking down clips found to be in breach of copyright.

The legal action has been combined with those of several other companies including Viacom and Nickelodeon.

Chief executive of the National Musical Publishers Association (NMPA) David Israelite said the body was: “very concerned about YouTube’s approach to copyright”.

He told BBC News that the body was joining the case, “to protect the interests of music publishers and songwriters, whose creative works are being used without permission or compensation by YouTube”.