RIAA Claims Web Site Is 'Piracy Haven' In Lawsuit

The RIAA has filed suit against Napster.com, a San Mateo, Calif.-based music site that the organization alleges is operating "as a haven for music piracy on an unprecedented scale." In a statement, RIAA says that no other Web service "has generated as many calls of outrage from artists, managers, artists' representatives, and others representing the music community's interests."

In the suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, RIAA alleges that in addition to making recordings of unknown artists available to users as MP3 files, "pirated copies of the recordings of every artist on the current Billboard charts can be located and downloaded from Napster." The suit charges the site with contributory and vicarious copyright infringement and related state laws.

Cary Sherman, RIAA senior executive VP/general counsel, says, "We contacted the company a number of times, including in writing. But the same recordings we advised Napster were infringing then are still available." Napster interim CEO Eileen Richardson says the company's lawyers "did try to set the ground rules for settlement negotiations," but she maintains that the RIAA "was not really serious in wanting to settle."

--Bill Holland, Washington, D.C


French Court Convicts Two In Illegal Download Case

A French court Monday convicted two men on charges of copyright infringement after they were caught operating a Web site that provided so-called "deep links" to illegal MP3 files.
The criminal court in St. Etienne sentenced the men, a 24-year-old computer technician and a 21-year-old student, to three months in jail. They were also ordered to pay civil damages of 100,000 francs ($15,300). It is believed to be the first time in Europe that criminal convictions have been obtained in such a case. It is not known whether the men intend to appeal.

The case was brought in June by French producers' body SCPP. Also named were rights organization SACEM and the U.S. affiliates of Sony Music, Island Records, Warner Music, and Atlantic Records. The defendants' site was said to be offering entire albums for download, including current releases by Madonna, the Cranberries, Will Smith, and Tori Amos.

"This sends the right signal to everyone who looks forward to a full-fledged legitimate online music market," says IFPI chairman/CEO Jay Berman. "Internet piracy is illegal, and it needs judgments like this to make sure everyone knows it's illegal."

--Mark Solomons, London


Farber Joins Tonos As President/COO

Former MTV Networks executive Matt Farber, most recently COO of online entertainment company iCast, is joining Tonos.com as president/COO. The Web site, which bows in February, was formed last month by Carole Bayer Sager, David Foster, and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds with a stated goal of "pulling the curtain back on the entertainment business" for aspiring artists.

Farber reports to CEO Stephen Hansen.

--Marilyn A. Gillen, N.Y.


Tony Bennett To Start Sinatra High School

Tony Bennett has acquired rights from the New York City Board of Education to start the Frank Sinatra High School of Performing Arts in Astoria, Queens. Bennett says supporters of the school include Harry Belafonte and Eli Wallach. He tells Bulletin that a site and opening date for the school are yet to be determined and that fund-raising efforts will be planned next year. Bennett says the school will emphasize live performances and will encourage students to appear at hospitals, nursing homes, and church functions.

--Susan Nunziata, N.Y.


TBA Buys Christian Management Firm

TBA Entertainment Corp. has acquired Mike Atkins Management for an undisclosed price. The Nashville-based Christian-music firm, which represents Point Of Grace, 4HIM, Petra, and others, will continue to operate under the Mike Atkins name but will move to TBA's Nashville offices. Atkins stays on as president.

TBA says the acquisition is its seventh in 18 months. The company--which has management, event-production, marketing, and merchandising arms--announced last week a $6.75 million deal for festival producer Romeo Entertainment Group (Bulletin, Dec. 6).


Hip-Hop Tour Planned

Hip-hop labels Ruff Ryders/Interscope and Cash Money/Universal are joining for a 30-city U.S. tour. Ruff Ryders acts DMX, Eve, the Lox, Swizz Beatz, and Drag-On will share the stage with Cash Money's Hot Boys, Juvenile, Turk, Lil' Wayne, B.G., and Big Tymers. The trek?which starts Feb. 16 in Washington, D.C.?is promoted by Al Haymon's A.H. Enterprises (half-owned by SFX). It will be covered extensively by MTV. Ruff Ryders co-CEO Joaquin Dean says a tour album will be recorded.

--Marci Kenon, N.Y.


European Union Council OKs E-Commerce Directive

Electronic commerce in Europe received a boost yesterday as the EU's Internal Market Council agreed upon a legal framework for the commercial use of the Internet. The directive, proposed by the European Commission on Dec. 23, 1998, will now go to the European Parliament for a second reading.

The directive--drafted to protect consumers--stipulates that Web service providers will be liable for infringing content under legislation in their country of origin, as long as it can be proved that they had knowledge of an infringement. However, it does not provide direction for situations in which more than one country is involved in a lawsuit; this can occur when a defendant and the ISP are in different territories, as in several recent cases involving illegal MP3 files.

EU nations are required to implement the legislation within 18 months. An EU spokesman tells Bulletin this is likely to happen before the summer.

--Kai R. Lofthus, Oslo


BMG Has Holiday Downloads

On the heels of its streaming content deal with RealNetworks (Bulletin, Dec. 6), BMG Entertainment is offering a holiday collection of singles as downloads through the Liquid Audio network of online retailers. Songs from Alabama, Tracy Byrd, Sherrie Austin, Jim Brickman, Tuck & Patti, Alan Jackson, and others are available for $2.49 per track or a two-track "bundle" for $3.49. Kenny G's "The First Noel" will be offered as a free download and "Auld Lang Syne (Millennium Mix)," from his new album "Faith: A Holiday Album," will be offered as a streamed track.

In a separate announcement, BMG's RCA Label Group and Liquid Audio have teamed to offer a paid download of "Amazed" by Lonestar, priced at $2.49. All tracks can be purchased through any of Liquid Audio's 300 online partners, including Tower Records, Virgin Megastore, CDnow, and others.

--Eileen Fitzpatrick, L.A.


Borders, Centerseat Link

Borders.com has hired digital media company Centerseat LLC to produce programs for Border Vision, a new Web series on the retailer's site culled from in-store appearances of musicians and authors. The 290-store chain conducts more than 90,000 in-store events per year. Border Vision is expected to launch during the first quarter.

--Eileen Fitzpatrick, L.A.


Spanish Body Inks Watermarking Deal

Spanish performing rights organization SGAE has signed a license agreement for Verance's (formerly ARIS Technologies) MusiCode technology to encode the musical works of its members and conduct automatic monitoring of their radio, TV, and Internet public broadcasts. It is the first European authors' society to do so.

SESAC in the U.S. was the first rights body to sign on for the MusiCode Content ID audio watermarks (Bulletin, Jan. 14, 1998), which were implemented in compositions by its 3,000 members this fall.

--Steve Traiman, N.Y.


Music Choice Starts Web, TV Gig Series

Digital audio service Music Choice launched its OnStage Concert Series last night with a show by Mary Chapin Carpenter at a Washington, D.C., club that was Webcast live. The event will be rebroadcast over U.S. cable TV systems from Dec. 19 to Jan. 22. Online music company Entertainment Boulevard is the sponsor of the first show. Music Choice is a partnership between General Instrument, cable companies, and Warner, Sony, and EMI.

--Don Jeffrey, N.Y


Producers Guild, NARAS To Merge

NARAS, the Recording Academy, has "taken inside" the Music Producers Guild of the Americas (MPGA), according to NARAS president Michael Greene. He says the academy will form a wing of engineers and producers and a voting committee of studio professionals. Greene made the announcement Monday at the 1999 New York Heroes Awards dinner sponsored by the New York chapter of the Recording Academy. The final agreement for the merger--which was overwhelmingly approved by the MPGA membership--is expected to be signed by Dec. 15.

--Paul Verna and Susan Nunziata, N.Y


MCA, Mercury Nashville Name Joint CFO

Ken Robold has been named to the new position of CFO for MCA Nashville and Mercury's Nashville division, heading the labels' shared services department. He was senior VP, finance and administration, for the labels. He reports to MCA Nashville chairman Bruce Hinton and Mercury Nashville president Luke Lewis.

--Phyllis Stark, Airplay Monitor


What's On

The Billboard Music Awards air live on Fox tonight at 8 ET.

Late-night tonight: Jewel (on Leno), Michael Bolton (Politically Incorrect).