“We are disappointed in the Supreme Court’s ruling requiring the Copyright Office to issue a registration certificate before meaningful action may be brought by creators to enforce their rights in court.  This ruling allows administrative backlog to prejudice the timely enforcement of constitutionally based rights and prevents necessary and immediate action against infringement that happens at Internet speed.  Given this ruling, the Copyright Office must also work at Internet speed to ensure adequate enforcement protects essential rights.”

# # #

The post RIAA Reaction To SCOTUS Fourth Estate Copyright Decision appeared first on RIAA.

Stream ripping, which is the process of creating a downloadable file from content that is available to stream online, is now the most prevalent form of online music copyright infringement. Sites like YouTube-mp3.org extract an audio file from an audiovisual work – usually a music video – and present it to a user as a free permanent download that can be added to their music library. These sites exploit high levels of traffic to profit from advertising. It is estimated that YouTube-mp3.org generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue per month, often from major brands. However, these sites do not pay anything back to music artists or creators.

The international legal action brought by organisations representing record companies in the U.S. and UK against YouTube-mp3.org detailed the egregious illegal nature of stream ripping and serves as a strong warning to other similar sites.

IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore said: “Stream ripping sites blatantly infringe the rights of record companies and artists.

“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,” said Cary Sherman, Chairman and CEO, RIAA. “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.”

Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, said: “This illegal site wasn’t just ripping streams, it was ripping off artists. Most fans understand that getting music from a genuine site supports the artists they love and allows labels to nurture the next generation of talent. Music stands on the cusp of an exciting future in the streaming age, but only if we take resolute action against illegal businesses that try to siphon away its value.”

In the UK, the BPI, representing UK record labels, warned the site that it would face legal action if it did not immediately stop infringing copyright. In October 2016 the site agreed to block downloading by UK visitors.

In the United States, legal proceedings were filed by the RIAA on behalf of U.S. record labels in federal court in California against YouTube-mp3.org for flagrantly violating the labels’ copyrights. In a settlement agreement with the record companies, the site promises to shut down globally, not to infringe in the future and to comply with a formal injunction that has now been approved by the U.S. court.

Stream ripping is the fastest growing form of music piracy globally. Research conducted by IFPI and Ipsos finds that stream ripping sites are operating on a massive scale, with 53 per cent of all 16-24 year-olds engaged in the activity.

Stream ripping is a threat to the entire music ecosystem, including digital platforms that are acting responsibly by trying to attract listeners and sign up subscribers to licensed digital services. The recorded music industry will continue to take firm action to tackle other stream ripping sites.

About IFPI
IFPI is the organisation that promotes the interests of the international recording industry worldwide. Its membership comprises some 1,300 major and independent companies in 58 countries. It also has affiliated industry national groups in 57 countries. IFPI’s mission is to promote the value of recorded music, campaign for the rights of record producers and expand the commercial uses of recorded music in all markets where its members operate.

www.IFPI.org | Twitter: @IFPI_org

About RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA) is the trade organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies. Its members comprise the most vibrant record industry in the world, investing in great artists to help them reach their potential and connect to their fans. Nearly 85% of all legitimate recorded music produced and sold in the United States is created, manufactured or distributed by RIAA members.

www.riaa.com | Twitter @RIAA

About the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) Promoting British Music
The BPI is a record labels’ association that promotes British music and champions the UK’s recorded music industry – the world’s third largest. The BPI also safeguards the rights of its members and of all the artists, performers and record label members of PPL, who collectively create around 99 per cent of all legitimate sales and streams of music in the UK. The BPI’s membership consists of over 400 independent labels and the UK’s three ‘major’ companies, which together account for over 80 per cent of domestic music consumption.

www.bpi.co.uk | Twitter @bpi_music

The post WORLD’S LARGEST MUSIC STREAM RIPPING SITE SHUTS DOWN AFTER SUCCESSFUL INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ACTION FROM RECORD INDUSTRY appeared first on RIAA.

Click here to view the PDF which includes key excerpts from the music organizations’ filing. A copy of the filing is available upon request.

The post Major Music Organizations Decry Broken DMCA, Outline Possible Solutions In New Government Filing appeared first on RIAA.

Stream ripping is the process of ‘ripping’ or creating a downloadable file from content that is available to stream online. It is often done with music videos, to create copies of tracks that can be downloaded and listened to offline or on other devices.

IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore said: “This is a coordinated action to protect the rights of artists and labels from the blatant infringements of YouTube-mp3, the world’s single-largest ‘stream ripping’ site.

“Music companies and digital services today offer fans more options than ever before to listen to music legally, when and where they want to do so – over hundreds of services with scores of millions of tracks – all while compensating artists and labels. Stream ripping sites should not be allowed jeopardise this.”

Cary Sherman, the Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said: “This site is raking in millions on the backs of artists, songwriters and labels. We are doing our part, but everyone in the music ecosystem who says they believe that artists should be compensated for their work has a role to play. It should not be so easy to engage in this activity in the first place, and no stream ripping site should appear at the top of any search result or app chart.”

Geoff Taylor, BPI Chief Executive, said: “It’s time to stop illegal sites like this building huge fortunes by ripping off artists and labels. Fans have access now to a fantastic range of legal music streaming services, but they can only exist if we take action to tackle the online black market. We hope that responsible advertisers, search engines and hosting providers will also reflect on the ethics of supporting sites that enrich themselves by defrauding creators.”

Alison Wenham, CEO of WIN (Worldwide Independent Network) & AIM (Association for Independent Music) endorsed the action, adding: “Stream ripping is not a victimless crime, it involves ripping off the artists and companies who invest their time and money into making music for the public to enjoy. The more stream ripping takes place, the less investment into music will be made to the ultimate detriment of music fans.”

Richard Burgess, CEO of A2IM, representing US independent record labels said: “Stream ripping is yet another illegal activity that deprives artists, songwriters, publishers, and labels of their rightful revenues and their ability to make a living. It must be stopped immediately.”

In the US, legal proceedings were filed in federal court in California against the site and its operator, Philip Matesanz, for flagrantly violating copyrights. In the UK, the BPI, representing UK record labels, put the stream ripping site on formal notice of intended legal action if it does not cease infringing.

Stream ripping is the fastest growing form of music piracy globally and has now replaced other forms of downloading as the most prevalent form of online music piracy. Research published earlier this month by IFPI and Ipsos finds that stream ripping sites are operating on a massive scale, with 49 per cent of all 16-24 year olds engaged in the activity, according to Ipsos.

YouTube-mp3.org is the largest stream-ripping site with more than 60 million unique users per month. Based in Germany, the site has a global user base and provides a simple way of creating an audio file from a YouTube video.

Despite paying no money to the creators or owners of music, stream ripping sites are using the high levels of traffic they generate to make money from advertising. The prominently placed adverts on YouTube-MP3, often from major brands, are estimated to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars per month for YouTube-mp3.

-Ends-

For further information please contact:

IFPI: Adrian Strain Adrian.strain@ifpi.org, John Blewett john.blewett@ifpi.org
+44 (0)20 7878 7939 / 7935

BPI: Gennaro Castaldo, gennaro.castaldo@bpi.co.uk
+44 (0)20 7803 1326 / +44 (0)7801 194 139

RIAA: Jonathan Lamy, jlamy@riaa.com, Cara Duckworth, cduckworth@riaa.com
+1 202 857 9627
Notes to editors:

About IFPI
IFPI is the organisation that promotes the interests of the international recording industry worldwide. Its membership comprises some 1,300 major and independent companies in 60 countries. It also has affiliated industry national groups in 57 countries. IFPI’s mission is to promote the value of recorded music, campaign for the rights of record producers and expand the commercial uses of recorded music in all markets where its members operate.

About RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America® (RIAA) is the trade organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies. Its members comprise the most vibrant record industry in the world, investing in great artists to help them reach their potential and connect to their fans. Nearly 85% of all legitimate recorded music produced and sold in the United States is created, manufactured or distributed by RIAA members.

About the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) Promoting British Music
The BPI was formed in 1973 as a representative voice of the UK recorded music business. As a trade association it promotes recorded music in the UK and worldwide, including through its overseas trade missions and the Music Export Growth Scheme, and also champions the rights and interests of a broad range of members through its content protection work. Its membership is made up of over 370 independent music labels and the UK’s three major record companies, which in 2015 collectively accounted for over 80 per cent of the recorded music consumed in the UK – the world’s third largest music market – and whose artists claimed around one in every six albums sold around the world.

The post IFPI: WORLD’S LARGEST MUSIC STREAM RIPPING SITE FACES INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ACTION appeared first on RIAA.

“In one of the most significant intellectual property enforcement actions since the shuttering of MegaUpload, the U.S. Justice Department announced that the single largest pirate bittorrent site, Kickass Torrents, has been shut down and the principal operator of the site was arrested.  Kickass Torrents operated what amounted to the world’s largest stolen property ring where billions of copies of stolen intellectual property – movies, music, games and software – were distributed through the site over the years.  The creators received nothing, but the operators of Kickass Torrents most assuredly made handsome profits off the tens of millions of users and hundreds of millions of visits to the site each month.

“This is yet another example of a problem that is multi-jurisdictional in nature where no one country or law enforcement agency can mount effective enforcement alone.  Fortunately, Homeland Security Investigations working with prosecutors in Chicago were able to organize a multi-national law enforcement operation that was as far-reaching as the site’s operation.  It demonstrates not only outstanding leadership on the part of the U.S. investigative team, but also reflects an enormous commitment to bringing to justice those who would brazenly profit from the theft of the works of U.S. creators.

“We are grateful for the outstanding work of U.S. law enforcement and their partners outside the United States whose joint efforts put a stop to this massive theft.  In a music industry that depends upon legal digital distribution platforms for the majority of its revenues, targeted criminal actions play an important role in protecting the ability of creators to earn a living.  This case shows that individuals who use the veil of anonymity of the Internet to make a business of preying upon the creative industries are not beyond the reach of the law.”

# # # # # #

Contact:

Jonathan Lamy

202-775-0101

jlamy@riaa.com

Liz Kennedy

202-775-0101

Lkennedy@riaa.com

The post U.S. Justice Department Shuts Shut Down Kickass Torrents, Arrests Principal Operator appeared first on RIAA.

These companies filed suit against Aurous within days of its launch, and secured a temporary restraining order prohibiting Aurous’ infringing conduct pending final resolution of the case.

Aurous has now consented to the Court entering a permanent injunction and judgment against it. The settlement requires Aurous and its founder, Andrew Sampson, to permanently cease and terminate all operation of the Aurous.me website or any other website or software similar to the Aurous system. Aurous has also agreed to transfer all of the intellectual property in its service to the plaintiffs.

“Aurous appropriately agreed to shut down,” said Cary Sherman, Chairman & CEO, RIAA.  “It was the right thing to do.  We hope this sends a strong signal that unlicensed services cannot expect to build unlawful businesses on the backs of music creators.”

For a copy of the filing, please email Cara Duckworth Weiblinger at cduckworth@riaa.com.

The post Aurous Shuts Down After Settlement with Major Labels appeared first on RIAA.

Washington D.C./Oakland, California — The confidential settlement is between Pandora and ABKCO Music & Records, Capitol Records, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, and Warner Music Group.  The settlement provides a nationwide resolution for Pandora’s use of the plaintiffs’ pre-1972 recordings.

“Pandora is excited to have found resolution with these record labels,” said Brian McAndrews, Chief Executive Officer at Pandora. “Together we share a common objective to grow the music industry and support artists. We pursued this settlement in order to move the conversation forward and continue to foster a better, collaborative relationship with the labels.”

“Major settlements with SiriusXM and now Pandora means that an iconic generation of artists and the labels that supported them will be paid for the use of their creative works,” said Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman.  “That is a significant milestone and a big win for the music community.  We appreciate the collaborative and constructive approach of Pandora’s team in resolving this longstanding issue for artists and labels.”

The post Record Companies and Pandora Reach Agreement On Pre-1972 Recordings appeared first on RIAA.

How did we get to this point? A refresher: in April, we sued MP3Skull, a website devoted to encouraging and facilitating the massive, brazen and egregious theft of millions of copyrighted recordings. The site’s sole purpose is to generate profit from that theft of music, and it makes no pretense about what it does or why it does it. Virtually any commercial recording is available for free to download through the site and the most popular artists and songs (“Top Downloads”) are invariably chart-topping hits. Here’s just one illustration:

Furthermore, the site provides users with “tips” via social media on how to search for and find music on the site that has been specifically removed because the copyright owner has requested that the music be taken down:

Since 2011, various copyright owners have sent piracy notices on more than 3 million illegal files available through the site. MP3Skull has routinely been among the top recipients of such notices over the past four years.

MP3Skull has been provided ample notice and opportunity to respond to our original filing. After never once hearing from the site to contest our case, the court declared MP3Skull to be in default.

We now must seek injunctive and other relief to give effect to the court’s order. The relief we seek is reasonable, well-established, narrowly-constructed and absolutely essential. It will be carefully considered by the court and any affected party will be afforded proper due process.

RIAA Team

The post MP3Skull: A Site Dedicated To Ripping Off Music appeared first on RIAA.

WASHINGTON – Today a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) domain seizure notice appears on Sharebeast.com—the largest music illegal file-sharing site operating in the United States. A related linking site, albumjams.com, also now displays the notice as well (more below the notice).

The Sharebeast network of sites was responsible for the distribution of a massive library of popular albums and tracks and has been particularly problematic in its distribution of pre-release leaks of thousands of songs. The RIAA alone reported more than 100,000 infringing files to the service for takedown.

The following is a comment from RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman on the DOJ action:

“This is a huge win for the music community and legitimate music services. Sharebeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace.

“Millions of users accessed songs from Sharebeast each month without one penny of compensation going to countless artists, songwriters, labels and others who created the music. We are grateful to the FBI and the Department of Justice for its strong stand against Sharebeast and for recognizing that these types of illicit sites wreak major damage on the music community and hinder fans’ legitimate listening options.”

The post Department of Justice Takes Action Against Sharebeast appeared first on RIAA.

Sirius XM Holdings Inc. has agreed to a legal settlement with independent and major record companies for its use of recordings created before 1972.

The satellite radio broadcaster will pay $210 million to plaintiffs ABKCO Music & Records, Capitol Records, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, and Warner Music Group. The settlement provides a nationwide resolution for Sirius XM’s use of the plaintiffs’ pre-1972 recordings.

“This is a great step forward for all music creators,” said Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman. “Music has tremendous value, whether it was made in 1970 or 2015. We hope others take note of this important agreement and follow Sirius XM’s example.”

The case is Capitol Records LLC et al vs Sirius XM Radio Inc.

The post Sirius XM Agrees to Pay for Recordings Released before 1972 appeared first on RIAA.