p2pnet.net News:- iTunes and Listen.com may be guilty of massive, ongoing, criminal copyright violations.

So says Ernest Miller in yesterday’s Corante.

It`s the, biggest case of blatant, willful, criminal copyright infringement I’ve ever heard of, he says.

Someone should call the Feds.

The Warner Music Group seems to be making the claim as per its statements to music publisher Third Story Music, says Miller, going on:

I wrote about this story last week (Licensed Music May Backfire on Recording Company).

Basically, Tom Wait’s publishing company is suing WMG for additional royalties, since they get more for third-party licenses as opposed to sales and DRM-encumbered downloads are licensed, not sold.

However, I missed this reply from WMG:

The action says that in February, Third Story sent a formal notice questioning the accuracy of royalty statements to WMG. The music company replied in March that downloads “are sold to customers such as iTunes and Listen.com just as physical product is sold to…Best Buy and Virgin.

Whoa nellie! If WMG is merely selling the equivalent of physical product to iTunes and Listen.com, that doesn’t give iTunes and Listen.com the right to make additional copies and distribute them (for sale no less!) via the internet.

“Heck, the music industry is quite clear in its position that there is no first sale doctrine for digitally downloaded goods, so even that won’t protect iTunes and Listen.com.

Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net

See:-
Corante – Warner Music Implies iTunes and Listen.com Guilty of Massive, Ongoing, Criminal Copyright ViolationsEmail This Entry, June 5, 2005

This entry was posted on Monday, June 6th, 2005 at 2:07 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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