Allofmp3.com says FUCK YOU RIAA
AllofMP3.com Fights BackTopic: music
AllofMP3, the Russia-based online music store, has responded to the lawsuit filed earlier this month by the RIAA calling the RIAA’s move “unjustified.” AllofMP3 continues to claim that the site is legal under Russian law. In a press release on the website, AllofMP3 says, “certainly the labels are free to file any suit they wish, despite knowing full well that Allofmp3.com operates legally in Russia.”
AllofMP3.com sells non-DRM downloads and charges roughly one dollar for albums and only a few cents for individual songs. The U.S.-based iTunes Store on the other hand sells DRM downloads at ten dollars an album and one dollar for songs.
The RIAA’s lawsuit against Media Services, owner of AllofMP3, claims the website is an illegal service and infringes on copyrights owned by the RIAA’s members. The RIAA alleges 11 million songs have been “pirated” using AllofMP3.com.
The RIAA lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages per violation, which puts the total at over $1.65 trillion, which, as some have already pointed out, is just slightly less than the Gross National Product of Great Britain.
Unfortunately for the RIAA, AllofMP3.com operates in Russia and appears to comply with Russian law so the odds of the suit being settled in a New York court are pretty much nil, which might explain the ridiculous damages figure.
AllofMP3 claims it has complied with Russian law by forwarding all necessary rights fees to the Russian royalty collection firm, ROMS.
Thus far there have been no lawsuits brought against AllofMP3 in Russia, though the U.S. has been pressuring Russian authorities to shut the site down.
[Update: As Bill M mentions in the comments below, AllofMP3.com’s legality in Russia is in dispute. According to Wikipedia, “In May 2006, the Moscow City Prosecutor’s office changed its position and launched a criminal case against AllofMP3 owner Denis Kvasov.”
Unfortunately the main reference for the case is a Russian news report, if anyone can translate I’d love to know what it says.
With regard to a change in Russian law governing online copyright, AllofMP3 issued the following statement:
on September 1, 2006 the changes to the Russian copyright legislation will come into force. Since January 2006 the site has been making direct agreements with rightholders and authors at the same time increasing the price of the music compositions and transferring the royalties directly to the artists and record companies. The aim of AllofMP3.com is to agree with all rightholders on the prices and royalties amounts by September 1, 2006.
And just to clarify one other point that’s come up in the comments: the practice of manufacturers setting prices for retail sale of their products is known as collusion or price fixing and is a felony in the United States. See section 1 of the Sherman Anti Trust Act.]
AllofMP3, the Russia-based online music store, has responded to the lawsuit filed earlier this month by the RIAA calling the RIAA’s move “unjustified.” AllofMP3 continues to claim that the site is legal under Russian law. In a press release on the website, AllofMP3 says, “certainly the labels are free to file any suit they wish, despite knowing full well that Allofmp3.com operates legally in Russia.”
AllofMP3.com sells non-DRM downloads and charges roughly one dollar for albums and only a few cents for individual songs. The U.S.-based iTunes Store on the other hand sells DRM downloads at ten dollars an album and one dollar for songs.
The RIAA’s lawsuit against Media Services, owner of AllofMP3, claims the website is an illegal service and infringes on copyrights owned by the RIAA’s members. The RIAA alleges 11 million songs have been “pirated” using AllofMP3.com.
The RIAA lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages per violation, which puts the total at over $1.65 trillion, which, as some have already pointed out, is just slightly less than the Gross National Product of Great Britain.
Unfortunately for the RIAA, AllofMP3.com operates in Russia and appears to comply with Russian law so the odds of the suit being settled in a New York court are pretty much nil, which might explain the ridiculous damages figure.
AllofMP3 claims it has complied with Russian law by forwarding all necessary rights fees to the Russian royalty collection firm, ROMS.
Thus far there have been no lawsuits brought against AllofMP3 in Russia, though the U.S. has been pressuring Russian authorities to shut the site down.
[Update: As Bill M mentions in the comments below, AllofMP3.com’s legality in Russia is in dispute. According to Wikipedia, “In May 2006, the Moscow City Prosecutor’s office changed its position and launched a criminal case against AllofMP3 owner Denis Kvasov.”
Unfortunately the main reference for the case is a Russian news report, if anyone can translate I’d love to know what it says.
With regard to a change in Russian law governing online copyright, AllofMP3 issued the following statement:
on September 1, 2006 the changes to the Russian copyright legislation will come into force. Since January 2006 the site has been making direct agreements with rightholders and authors at the same time increasing the price of the music compositions and transferring the royalties directly to the artists and record companies. The aim of AllofMP3.com is to agree with all rightholders on the prices and royalties amounts by September 1, 2006.
And just to clarify one other point that’s come up in the comments: the practice of manufacturers setting prices for retail sale of their products is known as collusion or price fixing and is a felony in the United States. See section 1 of the Sherman Anti Trust Act.]
posted by Badwolf1 at 10:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home