Prosecution indicts Web site operators of music sharing

The prosecution yesterday indicted the chief executive of popular music file-sharing service Soribada on charges of copyright infringement.

The Seoul District Prosecutor`s Office said the fee-based music service violated intellectual property laws by servicing music for profit without gaining permission from musicians, officials said yesterday.

Chief executive Yang Chung-hwan and the company itself were indicted on charges of operating a profit-seeking business while using 10 unauthorized Korean pop-music files. Yang was not arrested.

Last month, Seoul Central District Court ordered the company to stop offering Soribada 3 music software to netizens which allows the transfer of MP3 files between users through the company`s Web site.

Soribada, the country`s largest Internet music-sharing site with an estimated membership of five million, is charged with gaining illegal profits amounting to 318 million won ($300,000) through subscriptions to its downloading and music-streaming services, said the prosecution.

"According to the copyright laws, servicing profitable music requires the consent of three parties - composer, performer and music producer, - involved in a music piece. But, Soribada operated its business without obtaining permission from the first two," the prosecutor said. Under the law, music-sharing websites should get agreements from the Recording Industry Association of Korea, an incorporated organization representing the copyrights of composers and the Federation of Korean Art Performers Organization, a group that advocates for performers` royalties.

In a response to yesterday`s indictment, Soribada (www. soribada.com), the nation`s largest Internet music-sharing site with an estimated membership of five million, said it hasn`t decided yet whether to appeal the case to a higher court, said a public relations manager of Soribada. The company`s head, Yang has insisted that Soribada should be regarded as any other search engine on the Internet.

Under the new law adopted last February, online music distributors such as Bugs Music and Soribada have been forced to abandon their free-service model and are currently providing new services that charge subscriber fees to cover royalty fees due to the record companies.

Bugs Music, the nation`s biggest online music streaming site (www.bugs.co.kr), has started to provide paid music-streaming services. Soribada also started to adopt payment systems and says their system was designed to protect copyright holders if they ever want to operate such fire-sharing services.

(christory@heraldm.com)



By Cho Chung-un