Everyone seems to have it in for Puretunes these days. From unknown to industry pariah in less than a week, this little-known Spanish company is on everyone's lips these days.
Rather than giving away music files, like peer-to-peer services do, Puretunes has been selling them –- and that's got the major record labels all fired up. Arista Records, BMG Music, Capitol Records and Sony Music are suing the company, seeking up to $150,000 per song, along with other damages.
Even though the site is based in Madrid, Spain, the server hosting it is actually in Washington, DC. That's how a suit was filed in the US, earlier in July.
Although Puretunes opened for business in May and closed in mid-June, it made a major impact on the already volatile world on online music retailing. The site offered music from almost every major artist, including some not available from any legitimate online music retailer. Puretunes charged $3.99 for eight hours of unlimited music downloads and $24.99 for a month.
How could a supposedly legitimate company set up shop like this? According to Puretunes parent company, Sakfield Holding Co., they had obtained licenses from Spanish music publishing companies to sell the music under Spanish copyright law. The fact that people from other companies could also access the site was secondary –- according to them.
Javier Siguenza, a Madrid-based lawyer representing Puretunes, told Reuters in May that the new company abided by Spanish copyright laws. The company even said it was collecting royalties for artists and would distribute them.
The record labels weren't buying it, and part of the lawsuit they filede states, "At all times, defendants knew that they were not authorized by the copyright owners, or by law, to distribute, copy or in any way exploit," these songs.
Martine
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