Thirty-one record companies have filed for a total 230 million yen in damages in a copyright suit against the operator of an Internet site enabling free downloads of music videos posted on YouTube.
The record labels, many of which belong to the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), filed the copyright infringement suit in the Tokyo District Court on Friday against MusicGate Inc.
The 31 companies include Nippon Columbia Co., Universal Music LLC, Johnny's Entertainment Inc. and Avex Entertainment Inc.
RIAJ claims that the number of visitors to MusicGate's Tubefire Web site exceeds 2.2 million a month and a massive volume of music video files have been illegally downloaded from it, negatively impacting the music distribution industry.
It is the first case of record companies suing the operator of a music download service, according to the plaintiffs.
Tubefire was launched in 2007. The written complaint from the plaintiffs says Internet users are able to convert videos posted on YouTube into downloadable files via Tubefire, which violates the Copyright Law by replicating and distributing data without the consent of the right-holders.
Google Inc., which operates YouTube, prohibits users from downloading videos posted on the site.
Tubefire "promotes users' illegal actions and hampers the growth of the music distribution business," the written complaint said.
Membership of Tubefire and exclusive software to download the files are not necessary, and users are able to import the downloaded files to their cell phones or portable MP3 players, such as Apple's iPod, to view the clips or listen to the music, according to the plaintiffs.
According to a RIAJ survey on Tubefire users, it is highly likely that music industry-related files were illegally reproduced on about 10,000 occasions between May and June.
Based on the results, the companies under RIAJ demanded damages from MusicGate equivalent to the amount of money they collectively would have earned if the music was bought and distributed legitimately.
A MusicGate spokesperson declined to comment, only saying that the company has not received a complaint from plaintiffs yet. The official insisted that there are similar sites to Tubefire, and that the company thought it had received implicit approval to provide such services for free.
"At the same time, we urge users not to violate copyright laws on our site," the spokesperson said.
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Damaging the music industry
A strong will in the music industry to block illegal downloading triggered the lawsuit against MusicGate.
RIAJ surveyed about 4,200 people aged between 13 and 69 nationwide, and found that about 70 percent of them use video sites, including YouTube. About half of those people download music files.
There are believed to be about 1.2 billion cases of illegal downloads of musical files annually, while music retail sales have been on the decline in recent years.
According to RIAJ, 14 single releases passed the 1 million unit mark in 2000, while no album releases went platinum, which also amounts to 1 million units, in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, only one single release sold more than 1 million units.
"The popularity of video sites is having a negative impact on the sales of CDs and DVDs, and also rental and paid distribution services," a RIAJ spokesperson said.
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