Songbeat, a simple desktop application for playing and discovering music on the net allows Web users to scour the web for MP3s using integrated search for Seeqpod, Project Playlist, SpoolFM, and iAsk to stream tracks and even download them. How does it work? You can find and listen to as many music tracks as you wish, but you can only download 25 of them. An upgrade would cost you 19.99 Euros (or $ 29.90) and you can get an unlimited amount of downloads.
You may be thinking is Songbeat legal? The downloading of music is not fundamentally illegal. However, it lies in the hands of the user to discern whether or not they have the right to download the particular music file at hand. However; Warner Music did not agree. Warner Music is the only one who has made a move by enacting a restraining order against Songbeat in agreement with the BVMI (the Association of German Music industry who has all major labels amongst its members. Due to a protective letter filed in all major courts in Germany the restraining order did not go through.
Philip Eggersgluess, founder and CEO of Songbeat is confident about the case and claims the service is perfectly legal in Germany. Eggersgluess states, “The music industry’s action shows once again that instead of looking for dialogue, they seek confrontation. Our intention, though, is to be a partner, not an enemy. We are offering dialogue: open talks aimed at finding a solution together.”
Can Warner Music win this fraud? As I learned in class, when dealing with software on the internet, you have to deal with copyright infringement which is loaned software to others without licenses. Couterfeiting is illegally copied software being duplicated and distributed. I think Warner Music should drop the lawsuit because globally, over a third of the software sold is illegal.
More Information on SongBeat:
As of now, Songbeat is only available for Vista and XP. Songbeat is planning to release Mac and iPhones next year. It is a free product, though a Pro ad-free version is also available.
Features:
Of course, there are already numerous application (online and offline) that allow users to search and play songs from various free music services. Some of the features that make Songbeat stand out are the ability to quickly import your downloaded songs to iTunes, Winamp, or the Windows Media Player, as well as its large directory of mixtapes. Songbeat also automatically downloads lyrics and album art with every song.
Money:
Besides selling the full version of Songbeat, the company hopes to make money through the 'Songbeat Discover' service, which allows users to legally buy songs from Amazon's music store and concert tickets from Ticketmaster.
Legal?
There are some obvious legal questions about the service. Songbeat's founders Philip Eggersgluess and Marco Rydmann argue that Songbeat only creates a model for monetizing music that is already freely available online. However, it remains to be seen if the RIAA will agree with this line of reasoning.
What is Copyright Infringement?
The unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.
As of now, I am not sure of what the outcome is but do not you worry because I will definitely post the outcome at a later time. Who do you think will win the case?
For more information, check out, "Songbeat: Interesting New Music Service - But is it Legal?"
To View the Article, "Warner Music Slaps Songbeat With Lawsuit"
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