HERE WE GO AGAIN: EMI SUES ROBERTSON
Remember Michael Robertson?
The ex-MP3.com founder, who paid out $100 million to record companies to settle a similar suit seven years ago, is once more being sued by EMI-owned labels and publishers for copyright infringement.
Robertson’s MP3tunes LLC, which runs both www.sideload.com and www.mp3tunes.com, are being charged with willful infringement of copyright over the Internet, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in
Robertson said the lawsuit appeared to be a retaliation for his suing EMI in
After settling its suits, MP3.com was bought by Universal Music Group for $385 million. UMG was the only one of the five major record companies at the time that had sued the site to refuse to settle its copyright infringement suit out of court.
Said Robertson said at the time. "It is really a shame because instead of using these technologies to improve their business they make an enemy of every technology company out there."
In 2003,
EMI's complaint says MP3tunes' two web sites allow users to listen to music on their computers, obtain copies of songs online, transfer music to their computers and portable devices, and distribute it to others. Sideload.com streams music to users, enabling them to listen to a wide array of music on demand, the complaint said.
Robertson "ultimately started this [company] as a vehicle to achieve a comparable infringing purpose [as MP3.com]," the complaint read. "MP3tunes, however, does not own the music it exploits; nor does MP3tunes have any legal right or authority to use or exploit that music."
