Allofmp3 boss acquitted of copyright offences

Record labels demand an appeal

Andrea-Marie Vassou, Computeract!ve 17 Aug 2007

The former owner of Russian music website Allofmp3 has been acquitted of copyright offences.

Denis Kvasov and his site had operated within the bounds of Russian law, according to a Moscow court ruling.

Mr Kvasov, head of Mediaservices, which owned the controversial Allofmp3 site, was put on trial after music companies EMI, Warner Music Group and Universal music pressed for his prosecution.

They claimed that the website, which attracted around 5.5 million users a day by offering music downloads at a fraction of the price of other download sites like Apple's iTunes, was enabling illegal downloads by not paying royalties to copyright holders or artists.

However, the Russian court disagreed. District judge Yekaterina Sharapova cleared Mr Kvasov after the prosecuting music companies “did not succeed in presenting persuasive evidence of his involvement in infringing copyright law."

During the trial, Mr Kvasov also successfully argued that he had paid royalties to a local organisation, the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (Roms).

The global music trade body, the IFPI, said it was “very disappointed” by the decision and that it expected the “prosecutor to appeal.”

Jo Oliver, vice president of litigation and regulatory affairs at the IFPI, said: "MediaServices operates in clear violation of Russia’s law and we expect this unfortunate decision will soon be reversed.

“This ruling in no way affects the illegality of allofmp3.com and similar services that reproduce and make available music without the consent of the artists, composers and record producers that created it.”

Although Allofmp3.com disappeared in June, another Russia-based discount music site opened shortly afterwards.

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