Ben Reid
17 May 2006 18:19
The Recording Industry Association of America has filed a lawsuit against XM Satellite Radio over its' new device, the Pioneer Inno, which allows users to save songs heard on the radio service to the device.
The RIAA's lawsuit, filed in a federal court in New York yesterday, alleges the satellite radio provider is committing "massive wholesale infringement" of copyrights. The suit claims that users who have the device and subscibe to the $12.95-a-month service would no longer need to purchase digital music.
The music industry is demanding $150,000 (£79,537) for every song recorded by customers who bought the player since it was first released earlier this month. Although thousands of Innos have been sold, this does not appear to have deterred XM. It has vowed "it would fight the suit", and also points out that the Pioneer Inno is no different from a person recording from terrestrial radio, which has happened for years. Furthermore, it cannot transfer content, nor is it an on-demand service, unlike iTunes.
The RIAA, however, disagree. In a statement made to the Los Angeles Times, Mitch Bainwol, the RIAA's chief executive, said "XM wants to offer listeners what is essentially a free version of iTunes without paying the music companies for the right to sell their songs". He contines to say, "It's a great deal for XM because it drives subscriptions. But it's fundamentally unfair to songwriters and labels and threatens to puncture the integrity of the digital music marketplace right as it is growing."
Source:
BetaNews