UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc.

92 F. Supp. 2d 349 (2000)

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UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
92 F. Supp. 2d 349 (2000)

EC

Facts

MP3.com, Inc. (MP3.com) (defendant) launched an online music service. MP3.com purchased thousands of CDs containing music copyrighted by UMG Recordings, Inc. (UMG) (plaintiff). MP3.com then, without authorization, copied the copyrighted music onto MP3.com’s servers to allow the music to be replayed for MP3.com’s subscribers. UMG sued MP3.com for copyright infringement. In its defense, MP3.com argued that its activities were fair use. MP3.com stated that its users were required to prove that the user owned a particular CD before the user could access a recording on MP3.com’s servers. A user would have to insert his own CD into his CD-ROM drive, or purchase the CD from a retailer before accessing that CD on MP3.com.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Rakoff, J.)

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