EMI Says Online File Storage Is Illegal

WiglyWorm writes "MP3tunes CEO Michael Robertson sent out an email to all users of the online music backup and place-shifting service MP3tunes.com, asking them to help publicize EMI's ridiculous and ignorant lawsuit against the company. EMI believes that consumers aren't allowed to store their music files online, and that MP3tunes is violating copyright law by providing a backup service."

It probably is illegal

[Auckerman]

While I'll simplify it down some, here are the two most important things you need to know about copyright.

Making copies of works that you didn't create is illegal unless you are doing it for personal use (fair use, there's a whole set up things that fall in this catagory).

Making copies of works you didn't create for the purposes earning money is illegal unless you have the copyright holders permission.

The problem is run into in the nature of the service being offered. This isn't merely storage, they are distributing the works. The way it seems to run, this isn't a common carrier thing that is being run in good faith, like say any random hosting company, this is a company that is advertising that it will distribute copies of music that you bought from someone else to you on any device you want. That changes the rules, they can't do that without a license, even if you have 5000 copies at home.

You do have the right to store it, they don't have the right to actively distribute it, especially, if my impression is correct, their goal is to make money doing this.

Re:Unfortunately

[somersault]

NIMP troll. Yay for the content filter on the company's firewall :)

Re:Jumping to conclusions again.

[TheVelvetFlamebait]

1 The loudness war
2 High prices for little content
3 Competition for the entertainment dollar (pay TV, satelite radio, cell phones, computer games, MP3 players, and others that had no or little presense 30 years ago.)
4 Retaliation for the industry's nukes on student's finances.
5 DRM on CD's makes them incompatible and dangerous to use. I don't keep a list of safe to play CD's. The lack of the Philip's Compact Disc logo on the good bad and ugly makes shopping by the cover very difficult.
6 Free music online (not piracy)
7 Piracy (fueled by all of the above)
8 Restrictions on use... Can't leagaly do the Carson Williams light show legaly unless you buy one of the approved for use licenses from Lights-o-Rama or play it in public at a reception, etc. No weekend DJ'ing for me.
8 ?? did I miss anything?

Nice list, but I think you misunderstand what people want. They don't hear or don't care about DRM, about the RIAA, or about the loudness war. The internet introduced an immediacy to entertainment that traditional physical music distribution simply can't tap into. That's the main cause of piracy today. They want their entertainment now, and the lack of effective enforcement allowed it. Of course, it doesn't make much difference to these people whether it's good illegal content or good legal content. It ends up the same for them. Of course price plays a large part as well.

Parent is probably a copyright violation

[Brown]

Ironically, the parent post seems to have been ripped from the diary of "Dr Michael Hfuhruhurr" on Kuro5hin, from more than 4 years ago.

See original on Kuro5hin [kuro5hin.org]

E.M.I,?

[flyneye]

Don't judge a book just by the cover
Unless you cover just another
And blind acceptance is a sign
Of stupid fools who stand in line
Like

E.M.I
E.M.I
E.M.I --Sex Pistols

remember mp3.com?

[kharchenko]

Well, there's a precedent for what these douchebags are saying. Let's not forget that they've already sued a company like that out of existence - mp3.com.

Re:Well, piracy hurts real people.

[c0p0n]

What makes you think the music industry is obsolete?

Because a lot of people don't want CDs if they can help it. They use an awful lot of space. They are impractical, given that there is a much more efficient solution these days. I wonder if music will go fully digital (when I say digital I refer to digital distribution) leaving physical media as a niche market, as vinyl is these days. If a band wants to distribute their work, they can deal directly with the actual internet shop. I'm sorry, but the rest of the paragraph I got your quote from doesn't make any sense, unless you're trying to prove my point.

What's your problem with copyright anyway?

None at all. Did I say so?

Good things come at a cost, and if they don't, why are you wasting your time with inferior and illegal products?

That's a fallacy.
* Things that come at a cost are not quality-guaranteed. I wouldn't define Britney Spears as quality.
* Things that are free are not inferior either. I could've got latest Radiohead's for free (the fact that I paid a bit for it is besides the point). I'm writing this from a computer I never paid for (recycled) running Linux.

Re:Unfortunately

[GT500Shlby]

Actually he was the founder of the Republican Party - or the precursor to the Republican Party. The ideology of Republicanism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanism_in_the_United_States [wikipedia.org]

Furthermore, murder is hardly the answer for some CEO who wants his company and shareholders to make more money. Yes, the RIAA/MPAA and the movie/music execs are a bunch of outdated douchebags. But murder? It's fucking music? Listen to Indie if you don't like the way they do business and put them out of business.

Re:Well, piracy hurts real people.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't pretend to know how you do it, but I usually put the B&D before the S&M, it's more fun that way.