MP3.com Says It Protects Copyrights
N E W Y O R K, Aug. 29 -- The chief executive of MP3.com portrayed himself and his company as a friend of the music companies as a trial began to decide if the company willfully violated the copyrights of record companies.
Michael Robertson said on Monday that his San Diego-based musicstorage venture is a rare Internet music company, forcing people topay musicians for their work.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who is hearing the civil casewithout a jury, earlier this year ruled that MP3.com infringed thecopyrights of the nation’s major record companies by offering musiconline without permission.
Purposeful Infringement?
Now, he must determine whether the company purposefullyinfringed the copyrights, which increase potential damages, to bedetermined at a separate trial later this year.
Since Rakoff’s earlier ruling, four of the five major recordcompanies reached settlements with MP3.com, leaving only UniversalMusic Group as a plaintiff. The terms of the settlements withWarner Music Group, BMG, EMI and Sony Music Entertainment were notdisclosed.
“There’s a lot of chaos on the Internet with digital music,”Robertson told Rakoff. “I thought it was important that there becompensation for the copyright owners.”
“Why did you care?” Rakoff asked him.
“I’m trying to grow a long-term business,” Robertsonresponded. “We thought this was a responsible system that wouldgrow the music industry.”
Robertson said the company went to great lengths to developsoftware that would require customers to prove they already own CDsbefore they were permitted to hear their favorite tunes over theInternet.
Proving Ownership With MyMP3.com
MP3.com caused a stir in early January when it began theMyMP3.com listening service, which allows customers to hear CDsfrom anywhere once they prove they own them by inserting them intoa computer CD slot.
Robertson proudly demonstrated the service Monday, playing bitsof the Steve Miller band and Stevie Ray Vaughn in a courtroomdarkened so everyone could view a computer screen of MP3.com’s Website projected like a movie.
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