AN END TO YOUTUBE RIPPING? (UPDATE)

The IFPI, RIAA and BPI are celebrating the court-approved, global closure of YouTube-MP3.org—the largest YouTube-ripping service on the Internet, which converted videos to MP3s and generated what's estimated to have been hundreds of thousands in advertising dollars each month, while paying nothing to members of the music community.

“Stream-ripping sites blatantly infringe the rights of record companies and artists," says IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore. “Today, music companies and licensed digital services work together to offer fans more options than ever before to listen to music legally, when and where they want to do so – hundreds of services with over 40 million tracks – all while compensating artists and labels. Stream-ripping sites should not be allowed to jeopardise this and we will continue to take action against these sites.”

“This is a significant win for millions of music fans, as well as music creators and legitimate music services,” shares RIAA Chairman/CEO Cary Sherman. “One of the world’s most egregious stream ripping sites has shuttered. Sites like these undermine the health of the legitimate marketplace and the livelihoods of millions of music creators worldwide. The swift and successful conclusion of this case should send an unmistakable signal to the operators of similar sites.”

So yes, this legal feat is great news for rights holders, but it does raise some questions.

Where has Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen been during all this? Why hasn’t he been more vocal about shutting down this site (and others like it)?

This form of piracy remains a major problem for the biz, and yet it's still so easy to accomplish. A simple Google search of "rip youtube video to mp3" immediately brings up simple, four-step instructions and dozens of links. Though the Germany-based YouTube-MP3.org was the biggest video-ripping site, plenty of others are ready to rush into the void.

Of course, traffic to YouTube by people planning to pirate its videos is still traffic to YouTube, from which Google makes money. Just sayin'.

If only there were a veteran music executive working at YouTube who could use his platform to defend the songs and their creators...