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Business: YouTube and copyright Free and easy listening
商業：YouTube涉及版權問題，免費自在地聽音樂
The music industry lobbies Congress to keep YouTube at bay.
音樂產業游說國會遠離YouTube.
IN LOVE or in business, it is not a good idea to be on the wrong side of Taylor Swift.
無論從個人喜好還是從經營商業的角度，與泰勒·斯威夫特對著干都不是一個好主意。
She has slated ex-boyfriends in her songs.
畢竟她經常用歌曲抨擊她的前任男友。
And last year she publicly criticised Apple Music’s plan not to pay artists during the streaming service’s launch period. Apple quickly relented.
去年，她公開批評蘋果音樂在流媒體服務發布期間沒有向音樂人支付費用的行為。蘋果公司很快就舉手投降。
Now Ms Swift has joined nearly 200 musicians and record labels in a campaign aimed at the largest streaming service, YouTube.
如今斯威夫特加入一個由將近200名音樂人和唱片公司發起的運動，該項運動直指最大的流媒體服務商YouTube。
They complain that it gives away too much of their work for free.
他們抱怨YouTube 免費發布太多他們的作品。
Their call for a change in copyright law is sure to fail, but the underlying gripe with Google’s streaming service will find sympathetic ears.
盡管他們要求版權法做出改變的提議注定失敗，但是對于谷歌流媒體服務的潛在抱怨還是引起人們的同情。
Streaming of music via on-demand video services more than doubled in America last year, to 172.4 billion songs, according to Nielsen, a research firm.
根據一家名叫尼爾森公司的調查顯示，去年在美國通過視頻點播服務產生的流媒體音樂超過了原有的兩倍，達到1724億首歌曲。
Ms Swift, Sir Paul McCartney, U2 and others signed a letter, published in several Washington periodicals on June 20th, asking Congress to make it more difficult and costly for those streaming services to host versions of songs uploaded by users.
6月20日華盛頓斯的幾家期刊登出斯威夫特，保羅·麥卡特尼，U2和其他音樂人的聯名信。信上要求國會將流媒體服務和用戶下載大量版本的歌曲變得更加困難和昂貴。
Google and Facebook, among others, will vigorously oppose any change to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which grants them “safe harbour” from liability for copyright infringement.
在反對數字千年著作權法案做出任何改變的互聯網公司中，谷歌和臉書的反對最為強烈，因為該法案是使他們不用承擔版權侵權的“安全港灣”。
A more realistic goal for the music industry is to persuade YouTube to pay more for playing their songs.
音樂公司的一個更加現實的目標就是說服YouTube 在播放他們的歌曲時支付更多的費用。
The service is the leading destination for on-demand music but a small source of revenue.
這種服務是在線點播音樂的主要目的，但卻是收益來源的很小一部分。
IFPI, a trade body, reckons that 900m people used ad-supported user-upload services such as YouTube to listen to music last year, but that the industry got only $634m from those streams.
一家名為IFPI的貿易實體估算出去年有9億人使用YouTube這種有廣告支持的用戶上傳流媒體服務聽音樂。但是音樂公司僅僅從這些流媒體中獲得6.34億美元。
Subscription-based services, including Spotify, paid $2.3 billion to musicians in 2015.
訂閱服務，包括Spotify在2015年向音樂人支付了23億美元。
YouTube executives argue that they are creating a new source of revenue for the industry, even if it seems small now.
YouTube的執行官則認為他們正在為音樂產業創造新的收益來源，即使它現在看上去數額較小。
Many of those free-riders are unlikely ever to pay for a subscription service, they suggest.
他們認為很多這些免費下載音樂的用戶永遠都不可能去為訂閱服務而付費。
A popular user-uploaded video promotes the original work and generates ad revenue for the industry.
一家非常受歡迎的用戶上傳視頻網站促進了原創作品的產生并且為音樂產業創造了收入。
YouTube can take down such videos, but the company notes that labels and publishers usually want to make what money they can from them.
YouTube可以下架用戶上傳的侵權視頻，但是YouTube也指出唱片公司和出版商經常想盡辦法從他們身上撈油水。
Music executives might warm to these arguments if YouTube comes up with more cash for them.
如果YouTube 能夠想到給音樂公司的執行官更多現金，音樂執行官們可能會同情這些論調。
That is not out of the question.
這也不是不可能的事情。
Analysts reckon YouTube collected up to $9 billion in advertising revenue in 2015, some $5 billion of which would have been due to content creators and rights-holders.
分析家估計YouTube2015年廣告的收入已經達到了90億美元，這其中的50億美元是來自內容創造者和版權所有者。
Those figures could double or even triple by 2020.
這些數據到2020年可能翻兩倍甚至三倍。
By then YouTube might be making money.
到那時候YouTube才可能會賺錢。
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, does not break out YouTube’s results but it is widely reckoned to make a loss.
谷歌的母公司Alphabet沒有透露YouTube的營收情況，但YouTube被公認為是虧損的。
Three big record labels—Universal Music Group, Warner Music and Sony Music Entertainment—are negotiating new deals with YouTube that they hope will lead to a bigger slice of the pie.
三家大型唱片公司——環球唱片，華納唱片和索尼音樂娛樂公司正在與YouTube協商新的方案，他們的希望將指向分得更高的份額。
Some music publishers will seek new terms soon, too.
一些音樂出版商也會立即開始尋求新的條款。
Their lobbying may not sway Congress, even with Ms Swift’s help.
他們的游說可能不會使國會動搖，即使有斯威夫特的幫助。
But it does not hurt to have the singer on their side of the bargaining table.
但是將歌手拉到他們的陣營倒也無妨。
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