Hold onto your hats, folks! Big-time music bigwigs, including Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, are singing the blues and have taken the nonprofit Internet Archive to court. Why, you ask? They’re pretty riled up about the Archive streaming tunes from old records. They reckon it’s like running an underground record shop, churning out classics from legends like Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday.
And boy, are they serious! They’ve got a list, and it’s a long one – 2,749 songs they believe the Archive shouldn’t be playing. If they win, the damages could reach a whopping $412 million. Now that’s a lot of dough!
But wait, there’s a twist! The Internet Archive hasn’t piped up yet. No word, no comment. Silence. And just to paint the whole picture for you, these folks see themselves as librarians of the digital age. They stash away websites, books, and, well, music, saying they’re on a mission to let everyone dive into the sea of human knowledge.
But trouble’s been brewing for them. Some book publishers have already taken a shot at them over e-books. And guess what? The publishers hit a bullseye in court this March. But the Archive’s not giving up; they’re gearing up to fight back.
Now, a little birdie told me about this “Great 78 Project” of theirs. They’re trying to save old 78-rpm records from gathering dust and forgetting their glory days. They want future generations to swing and jive just like we did! Their collection? A cool 400,000 tunes and counting.
But the music moguls are pulling the brakes, pointing fingers at tunes like Bing Crosby’s winter wonder “White Christmas” and Chuck Berry’s foot-tapping “Roll Over Beethoven.” They say, “Hey, we’ve got these on Spotify and Apple Music. They’re not going anywhere!”
Well, what a rollercoaster! Let’s wait and see how this jazzy showdown pans out. 🎵🎷🎤
