[Mazer]

Originally Posted by JackSpratts

i don't remember the nascent days of launchcast pre-yahoo. i probably tried it and promptly forgot it. perhaps someone here was an early adopter and can fill in the specifics

Remember back when they were trying to shut Napster down, the RIAA was throwing up a lot of fluff over LAUNCH's personalized streaming radio.

RIAA sues Launch

25 May 2001 5:40 by dRD

RIAA sued Launch Media yesterday on behalf of Sony, BMG, EMI and Universal because they think that Launch's existing licensing deal for its Launchcast streaming service doesn't allow the level of interactivity it currently offers.

Launchcast's users can rate songs they hear from the service and based on the ratings, songs are played more frequently, less frequently or not at all.

And yes, the problem is the level of interactivity -- Launch has all the licenses, all the "blankets", etc from RIAA, but service is just a little bit too intelligent. The missing one from "big five", Warner Music didn't file a suit because it has a separate licensing deal with Launch and that deals allows this level of interactivity.

Launchcast service was taken down and according to Launch they are negotiating with RIAA to find the solution for this issue.

Launch and MTVi sued RIAA

1 June 2001 16:23 by dRD

Launch Media, MTVi Group, MusicMatch, Listen.com, Digital Media Association and Xact Radio filed a lawsuit against recording industry today in a San Fransisco federal court demanding clarification in a webcast licensing dispute.

The whole dispute was launched by RIAA who sued Launch Media in last week because RIAA thinks that Launch's LaunchCast webcast service violates Launch's existing webcast licenses, because it allows level of interactivity that RIAA thinks its not a pure webcasting station.

Suit was also filed in response to a recent request by RIAA, which asked the U.S. Copyright Office to disqualify certain Webcasters that offer consumer-influenced Internet radio services from a royalty arbitration.

"Our only remaining option is to ask a court to interpret the Digital Millennium Copyright Act so that media companies, technology developers, and investors can gain needed clarification of the statute," Jonathan Potter, Digital Media Association's executive director, said.

RIAA countersues webcasters

9 June 2001 13:26 by dRD

Now, when we're almost seeing light in the end of the tunnel in many digital media court cases, including MP3.com's, Napster's and 2600's, there are plenty of court cases coming up..

Legal issue over webcasting royalty fees was risen in May when RIAA sued Launch Media, because RIAA thinks that Launch's LaunchCast streaming service violates Launch'ex existing streaming contract because its "too interactive".

After Launch was sued, webcasters joined their forces and attacked RIAA seeking court decision over this issue (what level of interactivity violates streaming royalty system's limits for user interactivity) and sued RIAA. Team that sued RIAA included MusicMatch, MTVi Group, Xact and DiMA (alliance of webcasters).

And of course this backfired -- in Friday, RIAA filed countersuit against webcaster's trade union, DiMA. Three webcasters were mentioned in lawsuit; MusicMatch, MTVi and Xact Radio.

In a statement, MusicMatch called the recording industry suit "unnecessary" and said it was confident the court would find that its service was eligible for the kind of statutory licensing that covers other broadcasters.

RIAA recently asked the U.S. Copyright Office to disqualify certain Webcasters that personalized Internet radio services from an upcoming arbitration process, said Jonathan Potter, executive director of DiMA, the trade group for Webcasters that filed last week's suit against RIAA.

Launch reinstates Launchcast service

16 June 2001 11:49 by dRD

Launch Media has reinstated its Launchcast web streaming service again, but without the four major label's content (all except AOL TimeWarner).

Launch was sued by four major record labels in last month because labels feel that Launch's streaming service Launchcast violates its current streaming licenses being too interactive, allowing users to vote the songs that they hear from the service and service creates new playlists based on these votes.

The ultimate goal for labels is to block Launch and similiar services from participating to webcast royalty arbitration proceeding that will set a rate for non-interactive webcasting claiming that Launch doesn't qualify to this. Labels want to charge more or even prevent webcasters to offer anything else than a regular radio service broadcasted over the Net.

Launch wasn't sued by AOL TimeWarner, because companies have a separate deal that allows Launch to have interactive elements in its service -- now Launchcast contains music from various independent labels and from AOL TimeWarner, total selection of 25,000 songs.

Yahoo acquired Launch

28 June 2001 9:18 by dRD

Yahoo! has agreed to acquire digital music website operator Launch Media for $12M inb cash, Launch announced today. Yahoo pays 92 cents for each share, giving 59% premium for shareholders (Launch's share price was $0.58 yesterday) and expects to complete the acquisition in Q3/2001.

As part of the deal, Yahoo extended its $3 million loan to Launch, in addition to a $2 million loan it provided Launch late last month. Launch media operations will continue to be based in Santa Monica, California, and its co-founders, Chief Executive Officer David Goldberg and President Bob Roback, will remain with Launch following the acquisition.

Additionally Launch settled its copyright dispute with four major record labels (all major ones except AOL TimeWarner) and will very likely remove interactive components from its Launchcast service that launched the lawsuit in May.

A short but sordid chapter in RIAA legal lore.