In a ruling that will be welcomed by Apple, Google, and Amazon, a federal judge has said that online music services which host tracks in the cloud on behalf of customers are not liable if that music turns out to be acquired illegally.
The judgement, by US District Judge William Pauley, came in a case involving EMI and fourteen other record companies and music publishers, who had sued the service MP3Tunes. Judge Pauley explained that MP3Tunes and its chief executive, Michael Robertson, had not breached the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in allowing downloads.
‘While a reasonable person might conclude after some investigation that the websites used by MP3tunes executives were not authorised to distribute EMI’s copyrighted works, the DMCA does not place the burden of investigation on the internet service provider,’ Pauley explained.
Greg Gulia, representing MP3Tunes and Robertson commented: ‘This is a huge victory. Users can still download songs from publicly available websites, and store them without a separate license fee, so long as MP3tunes complies with takedown notices.’
Those takedown notices are crucial. While Judge Pauley ruled that there is no requirement on the website to satisfy itself as to the legality of the music it hosts, he also found the defendants liable for ‘contributory’ copyright infringement where they had been issued with DMCA notices and failed to comply with them.
A spokesman for EMI expressed the company’s disappointment: ‘EMI believes that companies like MP3tunes, which knowingly build a business based on stolen music, should not be entitled to any DMCA safe harbor defense, and we’re evaluating our options to seek review of those portions of the decision.’
Apple’s music locker, iTunes Match, is due to be available in the US later this year. It will scan users’ iTunes libraries and allow them to access versions of tracks in their library, but not purchased from iTunes, online in iCloud. Tracks purchased in iTunes are automatically available to computers and mobile devices associated with an iTunes account. If no match is found, users will be able to upload the track themselves. iTunes Match will cost $24.99 in the US. No date or price has been set for international availability.
