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The appeal court made, inter alia, the following findings of fact: – Almost 35 hours of video recordings are uploaded per minute and several hundred thousand videos are uploaded each day onto the YouTube online platform. The videos are uploaded to Google’s servers by means of an automated process without being viewed or checked beforehand by the defendants in the main proceedings. – In order to be able to upload videos to the YouTube online platform, it is necessary to create an account, with a user name and password, and to accept that platform’s terms of service. A user who, after having registered himself or herself, uploads a video can choose to leave it in ‘private’ mode or to publish it on the platform. In the second case, the video in question can be streamed by any internet user from that platform. – Under YouTube’s terms of service, each user grants YouTube, in respect of the videos that he or she uploads to the platform and until they are removed from the platform, a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, distribute and create derivative works and to display and perform those videos in connection with the provision of YouTube’s platform and activities, including advertising. – In accepting those terms of service, the user confirms that he or she holds all the necessary rights, agreements, consents and licences for the videos that he or she uploads. In addition, in the ‘Community guidelines’, YouTube asks users of its platform to respect copyright. They are also clearly informed on making each upload that no videos infringing copyright may be published on the platform. – YouTube has introduced various technological measures to stop and prevent infringements on its platform. Anyone can notify YouTube of an illegal video in writing or by fax, email or webform. A notification button has been created, with which indecent or illegal content can be reported. By means of a special alert procedure, copyright holders are also able to have up to 10 specifically disputed videos removed from the platform by indicating the relevant internet addresses (URLs). – YouTube has also set up the ‘Content Verification Program’ which makes it easier for the rightholder to identify the videos that he or she considers to infringe his or her rights by checking them off in a list of videos. That programme is made available only to undertakings which have registered specifically for that purpose, and not to individuals. If a video is blocked because it has been flagged by the rightholder, the user who uploaded it is notified that his or her account will be blocked in the event that the infringement is repeated. – In addition, in order to identify illegal content, YouTube has developed content-recognition software called ‘Content ID’ or ‘YouTube Audio ID’ and ‘YouTube Video ID’. To that end, the rightholder must provide an audio or video reference file which enables YouTube to identify on its platform other videos having the same content in whole or in part. If such a video is identified, the rightholder is informed of this by YouTube. The rightholder may then either have the content in question blocked or authorise that content and receive advertising revenue. – YouTube offers a search function and assesses the geographical relevance of the search results summarised on the home page in the form of ‘rankings’ under the headings ‘currently watched videos’, ‘promoted videos’ and ‘trending’. Other overviews of what is available can be found in the categories ‘videos’ and ‘channels’ under the sub-categories ‘entertainment’, ‘music’ or ‘film and animation’. If a registered user uses the platform, he or she will be given an overview of the ‘recommended videos’, the content of which varies according to the videos which he or she has already viewed. – There are advertising banners of third-party providers specific to the region in question around the outside of the home page. It is also possible to generate advertising revenue on YouTube through video messages which may be inserted where a separate agreement has been concluded between the user uploading the video and YouTube. As regards the videos at issue in the present case, however, there does not appear to be any connection to advertising.