Jury finds former MP3tunes CEO liable for copyright infringement

A jury of a federal court in New York has found Michael Robertson, former director of the online music service MP3tunes, liable for copyright infringement of works owned by music publisher EMI.

According to a jury, MP3tunes would have infringed the copyrights on works by The Beatles, Coldplay and David Bowie, among other things. MP3tunes, which was declared bankrupt in 2012, is also alleged to have deliberately failed to look at copyrights on music files stored on the cyberlocker service. In total, the lawsuit revolves around 2100 alleged copyright infringements. All this could be blamed on the founder, according to the jury.

The jury will determine in the coming days what compensation should be paid by Robertson to EMI, Reuters reports. Robertson always maintained that he was no longer responsible after MP3tunes went bankrupt, but the judge rejected this view.

MP3tunes was founded by Michael Robertson, the internet entrepreneur behind MP3.com and Linspire. Initially, the service sold music itself, but in 2008 MP3tunes was transformed into a so-called cyberlocker service. Users could upload music files and play streaming. The service had no licensing agreement with the music industry. In 2007 MP3tunes was sued by EMI. The lawsuits have dragged on for years.