Thom Yorke Compares Google, YouTube To Nazi Germany

"What difference is there?"

Thom Yorke appears to have compared the business actions of Google and YouTube to Nazi Germany during a recent interview.

The Radiohead singer spoke to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, and – when translated by the Guardian – some remarks make for controversial reading.

Referring to the business practises of Google and YouTube, Thom Yorke wondered his musicians could make any money from their art. His comments in full:

I don’t have the solution to these problems. I only know that they’re making money with the work of loads of artists who don’t get any benefit from it. People continue to say that this is an era where music is free, cinema is free. It’s not true. The creators of services make money – Google, YouTube. A huge amount of money, by trawling, like in the sea – they take everything there is. ‘Oh, sorry, was that yours? Now it’s ours. No, no, we’re joking – it’s still yours’. They’ve seized control of it – it’s like what the Nazis did during the second world war. Actually, it’s like what everyone was doing during the war, even the English – stealing the art of other countries. What difference is there?

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The full feature can be found HERE.

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