Copyright Law

IFPI Warns GGF to Hand Over Pirate Bay Cash

By soulxtc

International Federation of the Phonographic Industry lawyer also says that it will hold Global Gaming Factory liable for any ongoing copyright infringement after it acquires the Swedish BitTorrent tracker site.

Jo Oliver, lead attorney for the UK-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), wrote Global Gaming Factory CEO Hans Pandeya recently to warn him that it must turn over any cash it plans to pay to acquire Swedish BitTorrent tracker site the Pirate Bay.

The action is a result of the site’s conviction this past April for the facilitation of copyright infringement and subsequent order that its co-founders pay some $3.6 million USD in damages.

They claim they haven’t owned the Pirate bay since 2006 however, and that any monies paid go to it and not them.

The IFPI also cautioned that it ?will be forced to take legal action against GGF? if it fails to ensure the Pirate Bay complies with all relevant copyright laws.

“We are delighted when a copyright-infringing service announces its intention to convert into a legal and licensed operation,” reads Oliver’s letter to Pandeya. However, he also noted that “the Pirate Bay in its present form is still enabling mass infringement” and that GGF would be held responsible “unless and until The Pirate bay is operating with all appropriate licences.”

The GGF is expected to complete its acquisition of the Pirate Bay on August 27th, and Pandeya even says that a licensing deal with one of the Big 4 record labels is “imminent.”

“”We hope that your discussions with the rights holders reach a mutually acceptable resolution,” added Oliver. “IFPI would welcome and give strong support to the launch of a new online service.”

Now let’s just see if it’s at a price people will be willing to pay. If tracks are equal to or more than Apple iTunes 99cents I don’t see why people would be persuaded to choose the Pirate Bay instead. So it begs the question of just how much it plans to charge and if it can make a profit doing so.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on August 07, 2009 (boomark / email).