Although battles between artists and streaming services are nothing new, a major battle in the war was announced yesterday (February 3) as Spinrilla is being sued by the RIAA representing many of today’s top major labels.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, UMG, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Recording Corporation and LaFace Records are all suing Spinrilla and its founder, Jeffery Dylan Copeland, in Georgia federal court.
The case says it counts 21,000 copyright infringements from the music that Spinrilla has available on its site. It claims Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé are among those that have been featured without receiving compensation for their work.
“Through the Spinrilla website and apps, users with an artist account can upload content that any other user can then download or stream on demand for free, an unlimited number of times,” the RIAA’s lawyer James Lamberth writes in the complaint. “A substantial amount of content uploaded to the Spinrilla website and apps consists of popular sound recordings whose copyrights are owned by Plaintiffs.”
The RIAA issued its own statement on the matter as it is demanding actual or statutory damages and an injunction on the copyrighted material.
“Spinrilla specializes in ripping off music creators by offering thousands of unlicensed sound recordings for free,” the company says. “Fans today have access to millions upon millions of songs from innovative platforms and services that pay creators — this kind of illicit activity has no place in today’s music marketplace.”
The case is reminiscent of the RIAA suing Napster in 2000 with Dr. Dre and Metallica in tow. The revolutionary company was founded in 1999 by two teenagers who wanted a way to freely share music with friends. After garnering more than 20 million users within a year, Napster shut down in 2001 because of the lawsuit.
Other tales in the recent streaming wars include Taylor Swift taking her music down from Spotify and threatening to do the same for Apple Music and Jay Z’s TIDAL being sued for $5 million by an independent artist for reportedly not giving proper compensation. TIDAL had more woes over the release of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo when fans sued claiming that the company tricked them into getting a subscription by saying the project was an exclusive, but then releasing it to all streaming services later. ‘Ye has had his own strifes with streaming, saying the competition between TIDAL and Apple Music caused the rift between him and Jay that prevented a Watch the Throne 2 from ever happening.
They’re still trying to win this futile battle? This is how their industry went to shit in the first place when they took the file sharing services on when people started getting access to everything and realized less was more. You’re gonna have to find a new way to pimp the artists, and that might start with having them make less music but putting more quality into it again instead of cranking out another pasted together song with no coherent concept from 4 different popular artists or another raggedy ass Pro Tools instrumentation because it’s like fast food, cheap and bad for you.
U guys have the corniest tag lines constantly
She the lady from Salt n Pepa right?
That’s Spinderella, not Spinrilla. I’m checking out every now and then here, but on more than several occasions, you demonstrated fully you don’t know shit about hip hop, and I’m not even a fan of Salt n Pepa.
No wonder hip hop is been given artificial respiration, that’s because guys like you pretty much flood the boards on sites like this.
‘Respeck’ is to be earned, son!
Turns out you are actually the moron, smfh
So what good do you bring here talkin about dudes “havin the corniest tag lines constantly”? Is that what matters to you?
Hiphop is a dead art form with dudes like you chiming in with that BS
Who are u the gate keeper of hip hop? Get off ur high horse u fuckin stan.
Looks like the joke’s on you 😉
it was to good to be real, next on the line is datpiff
I blame white people.
I blamed white people first.
This is the work of j e w s.
They on some hoe shit. was life