A lawsuit in the US focusing on two Russian stream-ripping sites has thrown up some interesting stats on their popularity with American music fans. The three major labels, under the RIAA’s umbrella, are suing the developer of the FLVTO and 2conv websites, Tofig Kurbanov. He filed a motion to dismiss the case earlier this month, arguing that fewer than 6% of the sites’ visitors come from the US.
Now the labels are pushing back on that. “In the past year alone, Defendant’s websites had over 542,000 users from Virginia, who visited the sites more than 1.3 million times, and over 31 million users from the United States as a whole, who visited the sites more than 96 million times,” claimed their counterfiling. For now, these arguments are focusing on whether the US has jurisdiction over the case – and if it does, whether that should happen in Virginia (where the labels have filed suit) or in California (which is Kurbanov’s preferred alternative if he can’t get the case thrown out altogether). A hearing has been set for 9 November to decide.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…