That apparently hasn't panned out. Warner's contract is up for renegotiation now, and it seems to have fallen short of the "tens of millions" that other labels, like Universal Music, are touting as coming from their YouTube deals. There is no word on exactly what terms Warner is looking for or how much more money it wants, but talks between the companies have stalled. In an official statement, Warner says that it "simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide." Ars has learned that Warner is still hoping for a resolution with YouTube, but the takedown of its content began at midnight Saturday morning.

YouTube warned its users about the takedown with an official blog post that discussed the ups and downs of music licensing for YouTube. Arguably understating the situation as "complicated," YouTube apologized for not being able to "maintain these innovative agreements," then directed users to audio-license clearinghouses like AudioSwap, where they can find pre-sanctioned music that should keep the takedown notices at bay.

Ars has also learned that no other labels have reached new agreements with YouTube, but they haven't gone as far as Warner has in terms of pulling their content or snuffing user-generated videos, either. Besides providing an unpleasant surprise to YouTube users, Warner's spat serves as another reminder that digital content licensing is still in its infancy, and growing pains are inevitable.

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