YouTube-MP3 might not be long for this world.
As TorrentFreak reports, record labels have reached a deal with YouTube-mp3.org, whereby the site's owner will pay a fine and hand over the domain to one of the labels, effectively killing it.
According to court documents, filed in California district court, those behind YouTube-mp3.org are banned from operating the website or any other site that might engage in "streamripping" or other types of copyright infringement. For now, YouTube-mp3.org remains online, but that will likely change once the deal is approved by the court.
Music labels have had a love-hate relationship with YouTube. It's a powerful promotional tool, but if you listen to the latest from your favorite artist on YouTube, Google makes some ad revenue while artists likely aren't seeing a dime.
YouTube "exploits a 'safe harbor' in the law that was never intended for it, to avoid paying music creators fairly. This not only hurts musicians, it also jeopardizes music's fragile recovery and gives YouTube an unfair competitive advantage that harms the digital marketplace and innovation," Cary Sherman, chief of the RIAA, wrote in an August blog post.
With streamripping, internet users download content for personal use, and no one gets paid. According to the UK's Intellectual Property Office, stream-ripping jumped 141.3 percent between 2014 and 2016, the BBC reports.
In 2012, Google went after YouTube-MP3.org with a cease-and-desist letter, giving it seven days to comply, but it has survived, until now.
Original Story 9/27/16:
Major record labels are suing a site that lets users rip audio from YouTube.
Universal, Warner Bros. and Sony, among other labels, filed suit against YouTube-mp3.org, a Germany-based site that lets users convert YouTube videos with audio tracks into permanent audio files they can download.
The labels are seeking $150,000 for each instance of piracy, the BBC reports; the suit alleges there could "hundreds of millions" of tracks ripped to computers each month through the site. Though YouTube-mp3.org is not alone in offering such services, the suit say it's the "chief offender" with an estimated 60 million users per month.
"This site is raking in millions on the backs of artists, songwriters and labels," Cary Sherman, the Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, said in a statement. "We are doing our part, but everyone in the music ecosystem who says they believe that artists should be compensated for their work has a role to play. It should not be so easy to engage in this activity in the first place, and no stream ripping site should appear at the top of any search result or app chart."
The complaint lists several popular songs that have been ripped through YouTube-mp3.org, including Beyonce's "Hold Up" and Meghan Trainor's "All About that Bass."
The technique is just the latest in a long line of music piracy schemes. Putting an end to such sites has proven to be exceedingly difficult, though tech companies have taken steps to crack down on such activity of late. In many cases, they will move to different domains, sometimes in countries less sympathetic to record label interests. They also find ways to mirror their sites in the event a main page is taken down.