Music industry bodies have been talking more openly about the danger they see in ‘stream-ripping’ sites that help people rip permanent downloads from streaming services like YouTube.
Now they’re taking one such site – YouTube-MP3 – to court, claiming that it has made “millions of dollars” from its users.
A lawsuit has been filed in California against the site and its operator, while in the UK the BPI has put the site “on formal notice of intended legal action if it does not cease infringing”.
The bodies claim that YouTube-MP3, which is based in Germany, attracts more than 60 million unique monthly users. It follows research released by the IFPI earlier in the month claiming that 49% of all 16-24 year-olds are stream-ripping at least some of their music.
Google and Apple are also in the spotlight over stream-ripping. “No stream ripping site should appear at the top of any search result or app chart,” said RIAA boss Cary Sherman. BPI boss Geoff Taylor also called for “responsible advertisers, search engines and hosting providers” to stop supporting such sites.
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