The UK music industry is taking action against Youtube-mp3.org, the largest site dedicated to offering illegally stream ripped music.
The site and its operators are thought to have generated millions of dollars without paying any remuneration to artists or rightsholders.
Stream ripping is the process of creating a downloadable file from content that is available to stream online. It is often done with music videos, to create copies of tracks that can be downloaded and listened to offline or on other devices.
In the UK, the BPI, representing UK record labels, has put the stream ripping site on formal notice of intended legal action if it does not cease infringing.
Geoff Taylor, BPI chief executive, said: ‘It’s time to stop illegal sites like this building huge fortunes by ripping off artists and labels.
‘Fans have access now to a fantastic range of legal music streaming services, but they can only exist if we take action to tackle the online black market. We hope that responsible advertisers, search engines and hosting providers will also reflect on the ethics of supporting sites that enrich themselves by defrauding creators.’
In the US, legal proceedings were filed in federal court in California against the site and its operator, Philip Matesanz, for violating copyrights.
Research published earlier this month by IFPI and Ipsos finds that stream ripping sites are operating on a massive scale, with 49 percent of all 16-24 year olds engaged in the activity.
YouTube-mp3.org is the largest stream-ripping site with more than 60 million unique users per month. Based in Germany, the site has a global user base and provides a simple way of
The site and its operators are thought to have generated millions of dollars without paying any remuneration to artists or rightsholders.
Stream ripping is the process of creating a downloadable file from content that is available to stream online. It is often done with music videos, to create copies of tracks that can be downloaded and listened to offline or on other devices.
In the UK, the BPI, representing UK record labels, has put the stream ripping site on formal notice of intended legal action if it does not cease infringing.
Geoff Taylor, BPI chief executive, said: ‘It’s time to stop illegal sites like this building huge fortunes by ripping off artists and labels.
‘Fans have access now to a fantastic range of legal music streaming services, but they can only exist if we take action to tackle the online black market. We hope that responsible advertisers, search engines and hosting providers will also reflect on the ethics of supporting sites that enrich themselves by defrauding creators.’
In the US, legal proceedings were filed in federal court in California against the site and its operator, Philip Matesanz, for violating copyrights.
Research published earlier this month by IFPI and Ipsos finds that stream ripping sites are operating on a massive scale, with 49 percent of all 16-24 year olds engaged in the activity.
YouTube-mp3.org is the largest stream-ripping site with more than 60 million unique users per month. Based in Germany, the site has a global user base and provides a simple way of
