The lawsuit between Internet Archive and record companies has expanded to about 100 billion yen in damages, while there are also moves towards a settlement
Internet Archive vs. Music Labels: $600m+ Copyright Rift Edges Toward Settlement * TorrentFreak
https://torrentfreak.com/internet-archive-v-music-labels-500m-copyright-rift-edges-toward-settlement-250409/
Most of the records that remain today are Long Play (LP) records, which were adopted by Columbia Records in 1948. Records before that were called ' Standard Playing (SP) records ' or '78 rpm records', named after the rotation speed of the record. Compared to LP records, SP records are said to be very vulnerable to drops, impacts, and mold growth. There are now very few players to play SP records, and many recordings are rotting away. In order to save the contents of these recordings, the Internet Archive, which engages in Internet archiving activities, launched the 'Great 78' project in 2017 to digitize and archive SP record recordings.
'Great 78 Project' digitizes and archives valuable 78 rpm SP records - GIGAZINE
In Great 78, the record is distorted, the pitch is stabilized, and annoying noise is removed, and one record is digitized as a lossless sound source of 96kHz/24bit. On top of that, as of August 2017, 25,989 pieces of data were made available online with the aim of 'preserving the cultural material of SP records to give future generations the enjoyment of research by digitizing SP records.' However, on August 11, 2023, a music label filed a lawsuit against the Internet Archive, claiming that the act of 'digitizing SP records and making them available online' constitutes copyright infringement.
Sony and Universal Music sue the Internet Archive for digitizing and publishing old records and including works that infringe copyrights - GIGAZINE
The plaintiffs, music labels, sought damages of up to $150,000 per work from the Internet Archive, as well as the removal of the infringing works. Depending on the number of songs released, damages of up to 53.9 billion yen were expected to result.
In response to the lawsuit, the Internet Archive filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the complaint was filed too late, because many of the claims cited copyright infringements that occurred more than three years ago. In response to both parties' arguments, a federal court in California concluded that 'because the complaint does not mention specific copyright infringements, it is unclear as to which works the statute of limitations has been established.'
Therefore, the music labels applied for leave to file an amended complaint in March 2025. In the amended complaint, the number of infringing Great 78 songs, which was 2,749 in 2017, has increased to 4,624, and the total amount claimed has been increased to $693 million (approximately 99 billion yen).
At the time of writing, the amended complaint has not yet been accepted by the court, but according to TorrentFreak, a media outlet that covers topics such as copyright, the complaint may not be accepted. This is because both sides are negotiating a settlement, and in a joint motion filed with the court, they asked for a 30-day pause on the lawsuit to move forward with the final stage of the settlement, saying, 'We believe that the settlement negotiations will be successful and that the case may be dismissed.'
It's not clear what kind of settlement the two parties are considering, but TorrentFreak reports that the music labels are likely to insist that Great 78 remove all of its content, while the Internet Archive will likely avoid paying numerous damages in exchange for shutting down the project and removing the content.
Related Posts:
in Web Service, Posted by log1e_dh