Cloud Music Services Continue to Face Legal Questions
By Dennis Kuba
July 6, 2011
July 6, 2011
- The legal debate continues regarding the divergent approaches to cloud-based music lockers proposed by Amazon, Google and Apple.
- The 2008 Cablevision decision in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed for a remote DVR feature (when done at the direction of users and separate copies were stored for each user as would be done for an in-home DVR). The decision is the strongest legal case for a music locker service.
- EMI’s current suit against MP3tunes.com will also impact the situation. EMI asserts that music locker services must remove material if they become “aware of facts or circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent.”
- While Apple has signed agreements with the major labels, it has not yet done so with smaller labels.
- According to Ars Technica: “Either Apple wasted millions of dollars on licenses it doesn’t need, or Amazon and Google are vulnerable to massive copyright lawsuits.”
- Google and Amazon will assert their rights under DMCA Safe Harbor and the Cablevision case. In addition, they may have some protection under rights they have to sell music through their online stores.
No Comments Yet
You can be the first to comment!
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.