[Fsfe-france] Bertelsmann sued for $17 Billion over Napster investment

[Antoine]

La vie des bêtes....

http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=3640976255&r=3640976255


This is going to be fun to watch. A group of music publishers have sued
the German media company, alleging that Bertelsmann's investment in
Napster prolonged the life of the evil P2P network, thus extending the
damages of music piracy longer than should have been the case. You gotta
love it.

"The recording industry and music publishers, including Bertelsmann's BMG
division, won a suit two years ago that essentially killed Napster. Now,
many of the same plaintiffs have targeted one of their own, going after
Bertelsmann, which has invested almost $100 million in Napster since 2000.
This turn may portend other suits by the music industry targeting assets
of companies that back independent file-swapping services."

It doesn't appear that the RIAA is behind the suit. Rather, this Reuters
report names the publishers as songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller,
R&B writers from the early 60s. Frank Music Corp. and Peer International
Corp., are also lined up for handouts. It's actually poetically classic:
these guys want to sue Bertelsmann for allowing people to steal music,
while must cultural studies critics will tell you that these guys more or
less stole their music R&B music from the streets and clubs of black
America. If Big Momma Thornton were still alive, she'd be due a piece of
that pie. Thanks to necranom for the heads up.