http://suredisclo.com/imeem.html

Quite surprised it lasted this long.

There are the rules for streaming music, Imeem fails on even the most basic:

1. Licenses for online use of sound recordings are issued either by the copyright owner or, for certain webcasters and other non-interactive digital audio services, through a statutory license under the U.S. Copyright Act (the “Act”). This statutory license permits a webcaster to perform all of the sound recordings it wishes to perform without obtaining separate licenses from each copyright owner. Section 114(d)(2) of the Copyright Act governs the provision and conditions of the statutory license. The statutory license covers sound recordings only, not the underlying musical compositions, which require separate licenses.

2. The webcasting statutory license applies to webcasters that:

(a) Do not offer an “interactive service” (the programming cannot be on-demand or personalized);
(b) etc etc etc

there is a lot more to it than that, and the rules are complex, BUT you can’t just list music, allow people to click the play button and then stream it… I wonder if they have been paying the webcasting licensing fees? And if they have – how they calculated it?

Will be interesting to see how it pans out…

I can see it producing sales via Pandora however since there I cannot receive the music on demand.

We’ve seen this before
From the RIAA whore
The only way to score
Is to check logic at the door

I’m tired of the labels
I’m tired of their whine
The gravy days are over
But the world should pay a fine

So score one for the lawyers
And their short-sighted bosses
They kill that which could save them
And bemoan their spiraling losses.

Dumbasses…

Another internet startup has run afoul of the giants of the music industry. TechCrunch reports that Imeem which provides a widget to allow users to stream their music is being sued by Warner for copyright infringement. Last month, we posted…

Sites like nonstopriot.com and hypem.com are marketing and discovery, but it seem they take it to the next level by offering opportunities for purchase.

It will be interesting to see how everyone can play together. Until then I’m listening.

I agree 100% with your post.

Unlike Pandora, Last.FM and Mercora, Imeem does not have a license to publicly perform copyrighted works. It’s surprising that one of their VPs (who previously worked for a major label) would participate in such infringing behavior.

Expect further lawsuits from UMG, Sony, and others.

You start romancing her uglier sorority sister that has secretly had/has a crush on you. (No, no this isn’t my theory… it’s strait from Kissinger’s book: Diplomacy)

I’d call and start romancing other labels like BMG, Sony, Maverick (oops, they’re with Warner!!), EMI, etc. I’d negotiate terms for lead gen /rev share on songs sold via iTunes, Amazon and eeek!, Borders in store CDs. I find that Mrs Beasley’s baskets make people smile.

When the ugly sorority sister and you are happy, go ahead and put Warner on the waitlist for firms to lead gen for.

p.s. Oh and you should fire off a letter to Warner thanking them for the free press ASAP

Warner Music might as well have taken the YouTube lawsuit filed by Viacom and replaced “Viacom” with “Warner Music” and “YouTube” with “imeem.” The arguments are exactly the same. imeem likely doesn’t qualify for the Safe Harbor provisions of the DMCA because it knows of infringing activity and derives a financial benefit. Furthermore, it is not merely a “host”; it transcodes uploaded content, offers functionality that enables users to search for it and only enables the transcoded content to be viewed in a presentation layer which it provides.

The RIAA can suck it.

Oh Come On, Michael…. if Imeem gives you all you need in terms of your listening needs, where is the incentive to go buy the CD or pay to download it over iTunes?

That “marketing” angle has never jived with me… now with Pandora.. it might be different, since you can’t actually PICK your song, you just listen to whatever that is playing and I can see that model being more legit.

Plus, Pandora pays for the license.

- The founders have, something to put on their resume`

That seems to be a rarity, at least in on my song searches.