RIAA sues Puretunes.com (legal?) music downloading music web site

July 11, 2003

spacegrass used our news submit to tell us that Reuters reports that the RIAA is sueing Puretunes.com, a Spanish music downloading service. Charges are that the web site engaged in copyright infringement and unfair competition. There were already doubts about PureTunes, as it was much cheaper then industry supported download sites such as PressPlay and Musicnet. However the web site claimed it did work according to Spanish copyright laws.

Javier Siguenza, a Madrid-based lawyer representing Puretunes, told Reuters in May the new company abided by Spanish copyright laws. Puretunes had also previously said it was a legal service operating under licensing agreements from various Spanish trade associations representing performers and recording artists.

Unlike other download services such as Kazaa, Puretunes manages a music library and says it will pay royalties to performers. Eight hours of downloads cost $ 3.99 while unlimited downloads for a month cost $ 24.99, a steep discount from industry-sanctioned services such as Pressplay and those operated by Britain's OD2.

The lawsuit, wasfiled last Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against Sakfield Holding SA (owner of PureTunes.com). Read more here.

Source: Reuters.com