EMI Lawsuit Against Michael Robertson Dismissed... But Continues Against MP3Tunes

from the the- dept

Remember when a private equity firm took over the major record label EMI, and insisted that things would be different, and it wouldn't keep filing ridiculous lawsuits and pissing off fans. That's not exactly what happened. EMI not only sued the service MP3Tunes but it personally sued Michael Robertson, the company's founder as well, in an attempt to bankrupt him personally. The whole case seems hard to figure out. MP3Tunes simply lets individuals upload their own songs into a music locker, which they can then listen to from a browser. That seems perfectly legitimate under existing copyright law. It's really no different than, say, putting music you own onto an MP3 player.

The good news is that a judge has thrown out the part of the lawsuit directed personally at Robertson -- though the case against MP3Tunes will be allowed to continue. It appears that the suit against Robertson was tossed more for jurisdictional reasons than a recognition that it was a sleazy tactic to sue the founder personally, rather than focus just on the company. Hopefully, when the court hears the actual case, it recognizes that there's nothing wrong with storing your own music online in a locker -- but we'll have to wait for the full case to run its course.

Filed Under: copyright, lawsuits, michael robertson
Companies: emi

This Is The New EMI? Trying To Personally Bankrupt CEOs Of Companies It Doesn't Like?

from the how-nice-of-them dept

Last year, a private equity firm took over the major record label EMI and announced that things were going to be different. It wasn't going to be anti-fan. It was going to look on the success stories of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails not as a threat, but as an opportunity. It even threatened to leave the RIAA and the IFPI unless it pulled back on suing fans. It then went out and hired internet savvy executives who would (hopefully) contribute a different perspective to the running of a major record label.

But, in the midst of all of this, it hasn't really backed down from a variety of ridiculous lawsuits. For example, it's been a part of a lawsuit against an ISP that refuses to spy on its users and cut off those who do unauthorized file sharing. We also noted last year that it had sued Michael Robertson's startup, MP3Tunes. Now we tend to have a lot of fun accusing Robertson of having the same marketing strategy with every company he starts: piss off some established company, get sued. It seems to happen with pretty much every company he starts from MP3.com to Lindows/Linspire to SIPphone. So it really wasn't a huge surprise to see MP3Tunes sued -- though, it's difficult to see how a personal music storage locker that doesn't allow sharing could possibly be infringing.

However, now it appears that the "new" more "friendly" EMI isn't just suing MP3Tunes. According to Boing Boing and Michael Robertson, it's trying to extend the lawsuit to go after Robertson personally, saying that he should be personally liable. As you probably know, one of the purposes of a corporate structure is to limit the liability of the executives of a company. To go after Robertson personally makes very little sense unless the idea is to intimidate. Many executives will quickly settle in such circumstances so as to not open themselves up to such a huge liability. On top of that, the chilling effects are tremendous. Others won't even think of starting innovative services, for fear of being personally liable in a lawsuit.

Unless EMI pulls back its lawyers, I think we can safely conclude that the "new" EMI hasn't really changed much from the old EMI.

Filed Under: ceo liability, liability, michael robertson
Companies: emi, mp3tunes

Phew. Michael Robertson Finally Gets Sued

from the beginning-to-get-worried dept

For a little while there, we actually thought that Michael Robertson might have lost his touch. The serial entrepreneur had pretty near perfected his strategy for building startups: come up with a controversial business plan that totally undermines the business models of incumbents and then make sure you get sued for doing so, using that lawsuit as a publicity builder. He did it originally with MP3.com and then followed that up with Lindows (which eventually had to change its name to Linspire). Next up was SIPphone, but that one was so late to the game that it had to sue Vonage since no one was suing it. Nearly three years ago when Robertson started another music startup, MP3Tunes, we were sure that he would quickly get sued. In fact, it seemed even more likely when he hired Hollywood's most hated hacker, DVD Jon. Yet, for some reason, the two could not come up with a plan to get sued, causing DVD Jon to move on.

After waiting so long, Robertson again tried to stir things up himself. Back in September he sued record label EMI for takedown notices the company had sent over MP3tunes' sideload.com, and the strategy finally paid off. EMI has returned the favor and is now suing MP3Tunes for for copyright infringement. Robertson, of course, can barely withhold his glee: "These guys rush off to court and tell the court that I am terrible and then they end up buying my company," which is indeed what happened with MP3.com... though, in this case, we'd hardly say that the labels "rushed" off to court. It looks like they had to be coaxed a bit. He also makes the following important point: "It is really a shame because instead of using these technologies to improve their business they make an enemy of every technology company out there." It sure took a while, but congratulations on finally getting the lawsuit.

Filed Under: lawsuits, michael robertson
Companies: mp3tunes

Next Time You Announce An Agreement To Sell DRM-Free Downloads, Perhaps You Should Actually Have That Agreement

from the just-a-suggestion dept

Michael Robertson, the founder of MP3.com, Linspire, SIPphone and a number of other companies has a pretty direct formula for getting publicity for his new startups: do something outrageous that pretty much guarantees a lawsuit. Then just assume that the resulting lawsuit will drive the publicity of the startup. Of course, sometimes such a strategy can backfire. Earlier this year, Robertson launched AnywhereCD with the claim that he would be selling DRM-free downloads from Warner Music -- perhaps the most stringent holdout in ditching DRM. Except... apparently Warner Music thought it had agreed to something entirely different and quickly sued AnywhereCD. It was actually somewhat difficult to understand Warner Music's claim. AnywhereCD was selling the physical CD, it was just that they would then also offer the digital tracks from the same exact CD. Basically, all the company was doing was saving people the step of having to rip the CDs they had legally purchased. Either way, eventually Warner and Robertson settled, allowing Robertson to continue to sell the DRM free tracks... but only through the end of September. If you look at your calendar, you'll realize that this is the end of September and Warner Music certainly had no interest in renewing any kind of deal with Robertson -- so it should come as no surprise that AnywhereCD is shutting down. It certainly looks like the controversial marketing strategy failed in this case. Previously, the lawsuits tended to be from competitors. When the lawsuits are from your suppliers, it gets really difficult to build an actual business.

Filed Under: downloads, drm, drm-free, michael robertson, music
Companies: anywherecd, warner music