If you've been bootlegging your MP3 collection off of YouTube videos, consider yourself warned. Universal, Warner, Sony and other labels have banded together to take down YouTube-mp3.org, a long-exploited service that converts audio from YouTube videos into downloadable MP3 files. A copyright lawsuit was filed against the company today (September 26).
The group of major labels and associated imprints filed the suit in California Federal Court today, Billboard reports, claiming that YouTube-mp3.org is abusing copyright law by letting users use a link from any YouTube upload to create an MP3 file, obviously without consent from the copyright holders. The suit alleges "tens, or even hundreds, of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream ripping services each month."
The lawsuit adds, "Stream ripping has become a major threat to the music industry, functioning as an unlawful substitute for the purchase of recorded music and the purchase of subscriptions to authorized streaming services."
The defendant in the case is German citizen Philip Matesanz, and his YouTube-mp3.org is listed as the "chief offender, accounting for upwards of 40% of all unlawful stream ripping that takes place in the world." It's pointed out in the suit that a recent blog post promoting "new functionality for the YTMP3 service" included a video ripping Usher's "More" single through the service.
Other labels involved in the lawsuit include LaFace, Fueled by Ramen, Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records, Zomba and more. You can see the paperwork in full over here.
YouTube-mp3.org has been warned about its service before. As Billboard reports, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) had previously put the company on "formal notice" and that the agency "intended legal action if it does not cease infringing."
The group of major labels and associated imprints filed the suit in California Federal Court today, Billboard reports, claiming that YouTube-mp3.org is abusing copyright law by letting users use a link from any YouTube upload to create an MP3 file, obviously without consent from the copyright holders. The suit alleges "tens, or even hundreds, of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream ripping services each month."
The lawsuit adds, "Stream ripping has become a major threat to the music industry, functioning as an unlawful substitute for the purchase of recorded music and the purchase of subscriptions to authorized streaming services."
The defendant in the case is German citizen Philip Matesanz, and his YouTube-mp3.org is listed as the "chief offender, accounting for upwards of 40% of all unlawful stream ripping that takes place in the world." It's pointed out in the suit that a recent blog post promoting "new functionality for the YTMP3 service" included a video ripping Usher's "More" single through the service.
Other labels involved in the lawsuit include LaFace, Fueled by Ramen, Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records, Zomba and more. You can see the paperwork in full over here.
YouTube-mp3.org has been warned about its service before. As Billboard reports, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) had previously put the company on "formal notice" and that the agency "intended legal action if it does not cease infringing."