Jetzt hat es auch vielleicht auch audiogalaxy erwischt. Hoffentlich bleibt denen das Schicksal von Napster erspart...
,----<URL:http://www.riaa.org/PR_Story.cfm?id=520> | RIAA News | | Songwriters, Music Publishers and Recording Industry Take | Audiogalaxy.com to Court For Wholesale Copyright Infringement | | | NEW YORK, May 24, 2002 � Audiogalaxy.com, a Napster-like clone that has | facilitated and encouraged the unauthorized trading of millions of | copyrighted songs, was taken to court today by songwriters, music | publishers, and the recording industry for wholesale copyright | infringement. | | The lawsuit was filed in federal court in New York on Friday by the | Recording Industry of America (RIAA), on behalf of its member labels, | and the National Music Publishers Association, Inc. (NMPA), on behalf of | the music publisher principals of its licensing affiliate, The Harry Fox | Agency, Inc. and their thousands of songwriter partners. The complaint | specifically accuses Audiogalaxy of "willfully and intentionally" | encouraging and facilitating "millions of individual, anonymous users to | copy and distribute infringing copyrighted works by the millions, if not | billions." | | The complaint further states that, "With functions such as the ability | to download entire songs and albums, cover artwork, and software, as | well as a peer-to-peer file-sharing function, Audiogalaxy's system is | even more egregious than that of Napster." | | �Litigation is never our preferred course,� said Edward P. Murphy, | NMPA�s CEO. �But when a company repeatedly demonstrates its intent, | despite repeated warnings, to continue to engage in and facilitate | activities it knows are causing grave harm to creators and copyright | owners, there is little choice but to defend our rights through the | legal system. To do otherwise would be to abandon America�s music | community to the pirates.� | | Among the numerous recording artists and songwriters whose works are | being unlawfully distributed include: Brandy, Boys II Men, Dave Mathews | Band, Celine Dion, Shakira, Enya, the Beatles, Shakira, Billy Joel, | Destiny's Child, Alicia Keyes, James Brown, Linkin Park, Madonna, Jerry | Leiber, Mike Stoller, Paula Cole, Lalo Schifrin, Henry Mancini, Johnny | Mercer, and countless others. | | Matt Oppenheim, Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs of the | RIAA, said that the litigation was a last resort after numerous | out-of-court warnings to Audiogalaxy were ignored or resulted in | half-hearted attempts to fix the problem. | | "Audiogalaxy and Napster are cut from the same cloth," said Oppenheim. | "Audiogalaxy is profiting by providing its users a library of pirated | music, including today's most popular hits. Though claiming fealty to | copyrights, Audiogalaxy continues to offer up virtually all of the music | we told them should be excluded. The firm's sieve-like filter has been | totally ineffective." | | Specifically, the suit, which also names Michael Merhej, head of | Audiogalaxy as a defendant, charges that: | | ? Audiogalaxy had ample knowledge of the massive infringements occurring | daily on its system, and in fact marketed itself as the next Napster. | | ? Audiogalaxy clearly had the ability to control the works available on | its system and acknowledged the ability to remove users, or | alternatively, to exclude certain content. | | ? Audiogalaxy provided users with a fully integrated, centralized | structure and facility, including a hub of central computers to which | users connected; a continuously updated database and index of infringing | sound recordings; information about file size, popularity and download | speed of files; and proprietary software to facilitate efficient | identification, copying and distribution of recordings. | | ? Like Napster, Audiogalaxy seeks to profit from its pirate system by | building an extensive user base to attract advertisers and investment | dollars. | | Audiogalaxy is based in Austin, Texas. A copy of the court submission | can be found at www.riaa.com and at www.nmpa.org. | | The Recording Industry Association of America is the trade group that | represents the U.S. recording industry. Its mission is to foster a | business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' | creative and financial vitality. Its members are the record companies | that comprise the most vibrant national music industry in the world. | RIAA� members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90% of | all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States. | | In support of this mission, the RIAA works to protect intellectual | property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists; | conduct consumer industry and technical research; and monitor and review | - - state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA� also | certifies Gold�, Platinum�, Multi-Platinum�, and Diamond sales | awards, Los Premios De Oro y Platino�, an award celebrating Latin music | sales. | | The National Music Publishers� Association, Inc., founded in 1917, | works to protect and advance the interests of the music publishing | industry. With over 900 members, the NMPA represents the most important | and influential music publishing firms throughout the United States. | | The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. provides an information source, clearing | house and monitoring service for licensing musical copyrights, and acts | as licensing agent for more than 27,000 music publisher principals, who | in turn represent the interests of more than 160,000 songwriters. | Besides the core business functions of licensing, collections and | distribution of royalties, HFA conducts periodic record company and | other user audits on behalf of its principals. HFA is the licensing | affiliate of the National Music Publishers� Association. `----
