A new subscription-based MP3 service called Puretunes, distributed through the Grokster peer-to-peer network in the States, is selling unlimited access to major-label music in packages that range from $3.99 for eight hours to $168 for the year. The problem is that they don’t have any authorization to do so. According to Billboard, the company does not have licensing agreements with any major label, but it claims to compensate rights holders. Puretunes claims that its deals with the Spanish Association Of Authors And Editors and the Association Of Artists, Performers, And Players make their practices legal under Spanish copyright law.
Obviously, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry are disputing that claim. IFPI general counsel Allen Dixon said, “Distributing music on the Internet without authorization from the copyright holders is illegal in Spain, as it is everywhere else. The legal situation in Spain is very clear, and any site offering music downloads needs to have the authorization of record producers. If Puretunes is going ahead and putting music on the Internet without that authorization, then they will have to face the consequences.”
Puretunes is focusing their marketing efforts on the US, though a deal with US-based Grokster peer-to-peer network. Distribution was scheduled to begin yesterday, but had to be pulled shortly after launch due to an overwhelming consumer response that actually flooded Puretunes’ servers.
Domestic industry watchdog, the RIAA, declined make any comments to Billboard regarding the situation.
