Content Creators Coalition Statement On Google CEO Sundar Pichai Testifying To The House Judiciary Committee
Artist-run Organization: “Google’s YouTube Service Is One Of The Biggest Threats To Artists And Music Creators On The Internet Today”
The Content Creators Coalition released the following statement in advance of Google CEO Sundar Pichai testifying to the House Judiciary Committee today:
“After Mark Zuckerberg’s May 2018 testimony, the Content Creators Coalition asked a simple question: Where’s Google? Today, that question will finally be answered with Google’s CEO appearing in front of the House Judiciary Committee.
“Google’s YouTube service is one of the biggest threats to artists and music creators on the internet today — it is the most widely used website for streaming music in the world and yet it pays just a fraction for music compared to its competitors and others in the industry. The company hides behind a broken safe harbor regime that rewards it for turning a blind eye to piracy while using its sheer size and dominance to force artists to accept below market rates for their work. That’s great for Google’s overstuffed bottom line but it leaves too many artists and songwriters out in the cold.
“In the early days of the modern internet, Google decimated the news business so quickly that no one really had time to react, and the result is a stunted news ecosystem that has left many communities and points of view behind. We urge Congress to not make that same mistake today — and use this and future hearings to conduct rigorous oversight of our nation’s copyright laws and the health of the creative economy in an online world dominated by the Google/Alphabet digital industrial complex.”
About c3:
The Content Creators Coalition (c3) is an artist-run non-profit advocacy group representing creators in the digital landscape. c3’s work is significant to anyone who creates and makes a living from their creations. c3’s objectives are two-fold: First, economic justice for musicians and music creators in the digital domain. Second, ensuring that the current and future generations of creators retain the rights needed to create and benefit from the use of their work and efforts. c3 has grown into a national organization based on representation, advocacy, and mobilization for sustainable careers in the digital age.
