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Huge Youtube MP3-ripping site loses court battle

Jamie Feltham
October 23, 2013

A huge Youtube MP3 ripping site has lost a court battle with the music industry, but still remains in operation. Youtube-MP3, a German site that pulls in 30 million visitors a month, has agreed to cease and desist from its current mode of operation.

It was revealed that the browser-based tool had been storing MP3s for future download. Apparently once audio had been ripped using the site, the company would then store that file for itself as well. Anyone that then entered the same Youtube URL at a later date would simple be handed the stored version instead of a fresh rip. Some business types don’t like that. Industry group BVMI challenged the company and came out on top.

The company issued a statement, saying: “Contrary to the common assumption that YouTubeMP3 is a streamripper that allows users to record songs from the Internet (much as cassette recorders were used to record music from the radio back in the day), in fact the online converter often simply made the pieces available for download without a license.”

Youtube-MP3 managed to fend off another legal battle – this time with Google – as recently as last year. The change of operations will likely include removing the MP3 storing, but the huge Youtube ripping site is set to continue.

Source: Torrent Freak

About the Author

Jamie Feltham

Videogamer, music listener, squash player, exerciser, technology journalister. Multimedia journalism graduate, writing for the What Mobile mag and website

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