YouTube today started blocking access to thousands of music videos in the UK after negotiations to renew its rights deal with the main royalty collector broke down. Back in August 2007, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) had struck its first such deal with a royalty society, MCPS-PRS Alliance, gaining licenses on 10 million pieces of music in return for a flat fee, which was never disclosed. That has now expired, however, and GooTube’s EMEA video partnerships director Patrick Walker has gone public to announce negotiations have broken down over price. See the full story here on our sister site paidContent:UK.

SEE ALSO: Someone Forgot To Tell Warner YouTube Has The Upper Hand; WMG Videos Are Off Google Site’s Grid