The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has upheld a copyright infringement verdict against US streaming radio service TuneIn.
The company was hoping to overturn the judgment in the Warner Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment copyright infringement lawsuit that was made in November 2019.
The UK lawsuit, filed by Warner and Sony in 2017, accused the US company of lacking a license to play music in the UK.
Launched in 2002, San Francisco-based TuneIn is a free digital radio service that offers its listeners music, sport, news, podcast and audiobook content.
A legal document seen by one MBW source back in 2017 suggested that the majors submitted evidence which they claimed showed a sample of 800 unlicensed TuneIn music streams in the UK.
In November 2019, the court decided that the digital music platform breached the music companies’ copyright on one point but found that it didn’t breach their copyright on another.
The court found in favor of TuneIn that music radio stations licensed in the UK can be made available through the TuneIn service to TuneIn’s UK users.
It found in favor of Sony and Warner’s claim however that TuneIn providing radio station links to users in the UK, that are either unlicensed or licensed overseas, constitutes copyright infringement.
The UK High Court decided on December 5, 2019 to allow both parties to appeal the decision.
The appeals court proceedings, which you can watch in full here, took place between February 22 and February 24.
According to the Court of Appeal: “In summary the main judgment decided that the Defendant (a US technology company which operates an on-line platform providing a service enabling users to access radio stations around the world) had infringed the Claimants’ copyright in sound recordings of music when that music was played through the Defendant’s system (website and apps) from internet radio stations”.
“We continue to hope that TuneIn will accept that it needs to operate on a fully licensed basis, fairly paying rights holders for the music it uses to generate revenue.”
Warner Music Group
A Warner Music Group spokesperson, said: “This appeal verdict is very welcome. We continue to hope that TuneIn will accept that it needs to operate on a fully licensed basis, fairly paying rights holders for the music it uses to generate revenue.
“Such a move would be to the benefit of rights holders and listeners in the UK and elsewhere. We stand ready to enter into licensing negotiations to help facilitate that outcome.”
“The decision today of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales reaffirms an important step against TuneIn’s blatant copyright infringement.”
Sony Music Entertainment
A Sony Music Entertainment spokesperson, said: “The decision today of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales reaffirms an important step against TuneIn’s blatant copyright infringement.
“Globally the company continues to unlawfully profit from massive commercialisation of unlicensed copyrighted sound recordings by turning a blind eye to basic licensing requirements and seeking to hide behind safe harbour and other spurious technical claims to avoid paying music creators.
“Today’s ruling helps to ensure music creators are not deprived of compensation for their work, that TuneIn does not have an unfair competitive advantage in relation to licensed services, honours their legal obligations and respects the need for artists and record labels to receive a fair return on the essential value they provide.”
“Today’s decision by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales confirms that TuneIn can only operate with appropriate licences from right holders and therefore cannot continue to blatantly disregard its obligation to ensure that its service is lawful.”
An IFPI spokesperson, added: “Today’s decision by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales confirms that TuneIn can only operate with appropriate licences from right holders and therefore cannot continue to blatantly disregard its obligation to ensure that its service is lawful.
“This is a big win for those investing in and creating music, reaffirming that services, like TuneIn, which generate revenues by providing online access to recorded music must be licensed to do so.
“Operating lawfully with an appropriate licence is essential if music creators are to be fairly compensated.”Music Business Worldwide