April 2000
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April 2000
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RIAA prevails against MP3.com 28 April 2000 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Friday scored a major victory against online music provider MP3.com when a federal judge granted a partial summary judgment for copyright infringement. In question were MP3.com’s recently added Beam-It and Instant Listening services, which allow users to listen to CDs in MP3.com’s online archive. It is the archive itself which was found to be illegal. The so-called Big Five record labels joined the RIAA’s lawsuit: Sony, Warner, EMI, Universal, and BMG. Various reports put the number of CDs archived by MP3.com in the range of 45,000 to 80,000—each one of which potentially makes the company liable for US$750 - $150,000 (£470 - £94,000)—for a total penalty that could exceed $6 billion. Judge Jed Rakoff set a 28 August trial date for penalty assessment. MP3.com has just $370 million or so in cash and available to pay damages. President Robin Richards said “We do not believe [a penalty in the billions is] even a possibility.” MP3.com plans to fight the judgment. Following Friday’s ruling, MP3.com’s share price dropped 40% to an all-time low of US$7 (£4.35) | Cnet story | | Cnet lawsuit story | | MP3.com | | top of page | |
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