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RIAA SUING MY.MP3.COM

The two new innovative features recently implemented by industry leader MP3.COM have been dragged into court. The RIAA is claiming copyright infringement. The key question is: can you create a digital music catalog of works you neither own and when you don't have the explicit permission from the rights holder to do so? "Beam It" is a sort of remote listening service; you are to tell MP3.COM what CDs you wanted them to catalog for you, and in turn, they are to make them available as audio streams, accessible from any computer on the Internet. "The RIAA estimates that it could potentially recover $750 to $150,000 per album, which means MP3.com could face tens of billions of dollars in damages if it loses the case." In this CNET article, a spokesperson for MP3.COM makes the case that that these new services are misunderstood by the RIAA and that it will actually stimulate CD sales and be a financial win for the recording industry. Other experts cited tend (at least in this specific case) to agree with the RIAA.

Thu, 16 Mar 2000 07:41:53 -0800