SeeqPod, the music search engine that we wrote about in
September, has finally incurred the wrath of the record companies.
The Bay Area start-up is considering its legal position
after Warner Music Group filed a suit in a Los Angeles court alleging copyright
infringement.
SeeqPod users type in the name of a song or artist and the
search engine compiles a list of instances that can be played with the click of
a mouse.
SeeqPod told us at the time that they did not host any of
the music and therefore felt they were acting legally, which seemed a little
hopeful and perhaps naive.
Warner’s complaint, a copy of which has been posted on
the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s site, says that SeeqPod links to sites
with illegal copies of copyrighted music and makes this “practically unlimited
catalogue of unauthorised sound recordings available for on-demand streaming.”
“SeeqPod directly supplants legitimate contractual
arrangements that exist for the authorised digital audio transmission and
distribution of copyrighted music.”
While SeeqPod does not allow actual downloads of the music
it finds, the major record companies are clearly inclined to clamp down on
streaming services that do not have their approval.
In contrast, Warner, EMI, Sony BMG and Universal made a deal
with CBS’s Last.FM on Wednesday that permits free streaming of their music.
The four majors earlier gave their backing to streaming from
imeem, a social networking site. But that was only after Warner launched litigation
last May against imeem similar to that it is now bringing against Seeqpod.
The message to the search-engine start-up therefore seems
to be: Sign up or sign off.
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