Former MP3Tunes CEO must pay 30 million euros in damages

Michael Robertson, the former head of MP3Tunes.com, has to pay around 30 million euros to the companies behind former record company EMI. Robertson is held liable for copyright infringements committed by users of the music site.

The exact amount that Robertson will have to pay to the EMI companies is unknown; that has yet to be determined on the basis of the complex judgment. The estimate of $41 million, about 30 million euros, comes from one of EMI’s lawyers, Luke Platzer, Reuters said. In any case, the amount includes a fine of 5.5 million euros; the rest counts as compensation.

MP3Tunes.com was active from 2005 to 2012, serving as an iTunes competitor. Another function that MP3Tunes offered was to store users’ music files in ‘lockers’ online. In conjunction with Robertson’s other website, Sideload.com, users could easily search for free music on the Internet and sideload it into their locker for free access.

Robertson’s lawyers argued in the lawsuit that they had no control over what users put in their lockers through Sideload.com, and that much of the music was at one time offered for free by EMI itself for promotional purposes. In addition, the MP3Tunes administration allegedly removed users who abused the cyberlocker system from the site.

On Tuesday, April 1, it will be definitively determined how much Robertson has to pay to EMI. Ira Sacks, one of Robertson’s attorneys, says his client wants to appeal the ruling. According to him, many of EMI’s claims are unfounded.