Apple, Amazon, others sued for selling "pirate" recordings of classic songs



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The estate of Harold Arlen, the man responsible for composing Above the rainbow and many other classic songs, continues Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Pandora for selling unauthorized recordings of some of the most famous music of the songwriter. Forbes The lawsuit indicates that the companies are involved in a "massive music piracy operation" involving more than 6,000 pirated recordings.

Arlen composed some of the most famous 20th century soundtracks for Hollywood movies and Broadway musicals. Above the rainbow, which he composed alongside the lyricist E. Y. Harburg for the film The Wizard of Oz, won an Oscar in 1939 for the best original song. Arlen also composed the music of the 1954 version of A star is born and collaborated with songwriters such as Ira Gershwin and Johnny Mercer. Arlen died in 1986.

It is possible to see some of the unauthorized versions cited in the lawsuit in online stores. For example, there are two copies of the album Once again… by Ethel Ennis available for streaming on Apple Music, but the cover of one of them has been changed to remove the RCA Victor logo.

In another case, we can see a clear price difference between two digital copies of an original cast of the musical. Jamaica to be sold on Amazon. What appears to be an authorized version of the Masterworks Broadway label costs the full album at $ 9.99 for download, and the individual tracks at $ 1.29, while a seemingly unauthorized copy of Soundtrack Classics is $ 3.99 and $ 0.99 respectively. As for the Ethel Ennis album, the RCA Victor logo on unauthorized coverage also appears to have been removed.

The lawsuit claims that these online retailers are selling and streaming these recordings knowing they are not licensed. As the lawsuit says, "It's hard to imagine anyone entering Tower Records, standing out of the street, carrying CDs and records and pretending to be the label for Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Ella. Fitzgerald could make this store sell their copies directly alongside the same albums published by legendary labels, Capitol, RCA and Columbia, and at a lower price. "

In total, the filing makes 216 claims on its 148 pages. In addition to large technology companies, he also claims that many distributors have provided music catalogs containing unauthorized recordings. She claims the end of the offense in addition to the payment of damages and legal fees.

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