AllofMP3-If it seems legit, you must acquit
Not like I was expecting another outcome, but the guy behind one of the most popular online music sites - allofmp3.com - was acquitted of copyright infringement charges in Russian court last week.According to an article in Information Week, the court acquitted Denis Kvasov and his company MediaServices of the charges Wednesday.
Another site, p2pnet.net, reported that the IFPI (International Federation of Phonographic Industry) botched their prosecution of Kvasov so badly, judge Yekaterina Sharapova reportedly said, “I want to draw particular attention to the sloppy job done by prosecutors in collecting and analyzing the facts."
The music site, which sold songs for as little as 10 cents a track, became the subject of international controversy after recording and publishing companies, as well as groups like the RIAA, said the site was selling tracks illegally and breached copyright law.
In fact, Russia was forced to go in and shut down the site to gain entry into the World Trade Organization. As of July 27, Russia had not been admitted to the WTO.
AllofMP3 maintained it was acting under Russian copyright law, which allowed Russian collection societies like the Russian Organization for Multimedia and Digital Systems (ROMS), to license music to companies without securing permission from the music’s copyright holder.
AllofMP3 paid ROMS a portion of each sale.
But music companies refused to collect from ROMS because it would have been an admission that they accepted the terms of Russian law.
The RIAA was reportedly "extremely disappointed" with the verdict, and the IFPI said it vowed to appeal the decision.
AllofMP3 vowed to reopen soon. More on that HERE.
posted by Eric LaRose at
1:37 PM
2 Comments:
Of course the RIAA is "extremely disappointed". American companies are not used to courts upholding the law as it has been legislated. You see it is the American legal system that is corrupt - judges are appointed on political grounds and the courts "interpret" the law, which means the courts make up the laws as they go depending on political pressure, and then those political decisions become law because the a precedent has been set that other courts have to follow. The Russian courts, and other civilized European courts, apply the law as it is written so that people have certainty on what is legal and what is not.
So that's 2 losses to the RIAA now, with the first one a few months ago whereby a court found that Visa had in fact broken the law by withdrawing its services to allofmp3/alltunes, who had never been found guilty of any illegal activity. Now this well considered 46 page court decision found no evidence at all of illegal activity by allofmp3, all royalties had been paid as legally required and no pirated material existed. Overall it should be remembered that the US record companies cannot license Russian broadcasting - only Russian companies like ROMS can legally issue licenses. If allofmp3 had paid royalties to the American record companies instead of the Russian authority it would then have been acting illegally. Certainly seems that the RIAA and major record companies are the guilty parties here, despite all their propaganda.
By
Anonymous, at 5:31 PM
I have to say, that's one of the most well-written comments left on the Mad Mad Media Blog. And I couldn't agree with you more. Laws are created so there are boundaries, even copyright law. We have entered a global economy, and this was bound to happen. If we can farm out labor for a cheaper wage, cutting hundreds of thousands of positions from the American workforce, the same conditions must be applied to the way the world shops. It's called competition.
AllofMp3 provided a service, a service that was well planned, well liked and, quite frankly, offered at the right price.
And with these two wins, they will probably do it again.
The RIAA, the IFPI and every other music association is just going to have to get used to it and plan accordingly.
And, because I mention this every time, they are eventually going to have to explain why this company can sell songs for 10 cents and make money while paying royalties, while US companies (with the exception of emusic) are forced to sell music for around 99 cents a song.
Anyone who remembers the 1990s will remember the RIAA was in a similar battle for price fixing, which it lost. This seems awfully similar.
By
Eric LaRose, at 10:59 AM
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