Two MP3 Firms in Court Battle Over Copyright
Los Angeles-based PlayMedia Systems Inc. has filed a federal copyright infringement lawsuit seeking more than $20 million in damages against a leading MP3 software maker, Nullsoft Inc.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles last week, claims that Nullsoft founder Justin Frankel did not pay to use program code developed by PlayMedia and incorporated in Nullsoft’s popular MP3 software player, WinAmp.
Sedona, Ariz.-based Nullsoft denied the charges and said it will file a countersuit.
MP3 is a new format for downloading music from the Internet. The lawsuit serves as an ironic twist in the debate over the digital format, which the recording industry has fought while trying to protect its copyrights from Internet music pirates.
In the complaint, Frankel allegedly contacted PlayMedia co-founder Tomislav Uzelac in 1997 and asked to license PlayMedia’s programming technology while developing WinAmp. Frankel was to pay the California firm a 15% royalty, based on WinAmp’s gross revenue.
The lawsuit says Frankel did pay PlayMedia some licensing fees but does not say how much. PlayMedia declined to comment.
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