RIAA Takes Aim at Launch, Too

Baldwin Louie — Thu, 24 May 2001 15:00:00 -0700

In its second legal battle of the day, the Recording Industry Association of America sued music portal Launch Media on Thursday for failing to seek proper licenses for its LaunchCast personalized radio service.

The music lobbyist alleges that Launch's licenses with Universal, Sony, BMG and EMI do not allow for the level of interactivity and customization offered by LaunchCast, which allows users to decide how often they want to hear particular songs. After LaunchCast users rate songs, albums and artists, the service "learns" to play the types of music the user wants to hear.

In response to the lawsuit, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Launch removed LaunchCast from its Web site Thursday afternoon. The two sides say they are now negotiating to resolve the dispute; the RIAA declined further comment.

"We strongly believe that LaunchCast complies with the [Digital Millennium Copyright Act], and we plan to continue talks with the RIAA to ensure a positive outcome for both music lovers and the music industry," Launch CEO and co-founder Dave Goldberg said in a statement. "Certain features of LaunchCast may be temporarily suspended until we have come to an agreement with the parties in regard to its operation."

The lawsuit comes more than a year after LaunchCast went live, first in beta format in November 1999 and then in a full-scale launch in January 2000. The service has attracted more than 2.6 million music fans, the company reported.

Launch joins a growing list of online music companies that have been sued by the RIAA, which began its legal brawls more than a year ago by taking on Napster and MP3.com. In addition to adding Launch to the list of defendants it will face, the association also sued Napster knockoff Aimster in a separate suit on Thursday.

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RIAA Takes Aim at Launch, Too