UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc.

UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc.
CourtUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Full case name UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc.
DecidedApril 28, 2000
Docket nos.1:00-cv-00472
Citation92 F. Supp. 2d 349 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)
Holding
Distribution of legitimately purchased music files via the Internet entails the creation of copies that require authorization under U.S. copyright law.
Court membership
Judge sittingJed S. Rakoff
Keywords
Copyright, Fair Use, Transformative use

UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc., 92 F. Supp. 2d 349 (S.D.N.Y. 2000) was a landmark case of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York concerning the unauthorized copying of copyrighted materials on the Internet. The case concerned unauthorized duplication by the company MP3.com of songs from a wide selection of compact discs for the purposes of launching a service that allowed users to access their private music collections online from anywhere in the world. This business model was ruled to be a violation of American copyright law.