Mp3.com Marches to Support Net Music Bill
L O S A N G E L E S, Sept. 29, 2000 -- MP3.com Inc. is launching a politicalcampaign to support a bill that would make it legal to store musicdigitally and listen to songs over the Internet.
The bill could end a legal battle the company is facing overcharges of copyright infringement.
Revisiting Copyright Laws
Dubbed the “Million E-mail March,” the campaign supports abill introduced this week by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., and threeRepublican co-sponsors.
The bill would amend federal copyright laws to make it legal tocreate a digital copy of a recording, known as an MP3 file, afterfirst proving ownership of the music. Consumers would then be ableto send that file over the Internet and listen to the digital copyfrom a remote location.
It’s just that activity that resulted in a landmark legal casebrought by the five major music labels against San Diego-basedMP3.com. The company introduced its “My.Mp3.com” listeningservice earlier this year, which allowed a listener to brieflyinsert a compact disc into a computer to prove ownership of the CD,then listen to a digital copy of the music already stored on acomputer at MP3.com’s headquarters.
Mp3.com argued it should only have to buy and store one copy ofa CD on its computers and allow multiple users to listen. Therecord companies argued the system shortchanged them and violatedtheir copyrights because MP3.com was allowing millions of people tolisten to one CD.
My.Mp3.com vs. Napster
The My.Mp3.com service differs from the music-sharing Web siteNapster, which faces legal challenges of its own, because it merelysends the music to listening devices, such as a computer or awireless music player. Napster lets users download an actualcomputer file and make copies of it.
Four of the five record labels settled the case and grantedMP3.com licenses to continue the service. The fifth, UniversalMusic Group, pursued the case.
Earlier this month, a federal judge in New York ruled thatMP3.com violated copyrights of music companies and awardedUniversal $25,000 per CD — a penalty that could reach as much as$250 million. The company plans to appeal, and the case is likelyto reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Boucher said Thursday that if his bill becomes law before afinal ruling is issued, it could make the case against Mp3.commoot.
“The four companies that have licensed this technologyunderstand its power and are opting to use it to their advantage,”Boucher said. “One company ... has decided to pursue theextinction of this company.”
Representatives of Universal did not immediately return a callfor comment.
Streaming Media vs. Downloaded
Boucher said the kind of technology developed by MP3.com andmade legal by his bill would allow music buyers to listen to theirstored songs in their car after satellite Internet access isperfected, in their office or from a friend’s computer. The billwould only apply to music that is sent, or “streamed,” not musicthat is downloaded.
Boucher said his bill will not be considered before Congressrecesses in several weeks but he will reintroduce it when the nextsession convenes in January.
The MP3.com campaign is aimed at flooding Congress with e-mailsin support of the bill and mobilizing music consumers to lobbycandidates, the company said.
“The goal is to inform politicians that there is a hugeaudience of CD owners that this is an important issue to,” saidMichael Robertson, chairman and chief executive of MP3.com.