Project Playlist Sued over Music Distribution

Since the beginning of Napster back in 1999, copyrighted music has been a big issue for the record labels. First, they sued the company and stopped their illegal sharing of music, then they started going after individuals who were sharing mass quantities of music. Napster reopened as a premium service but people still are downloading illegally.

Now, the newest suit being filed is against Project Playlist. Project Playlist allows for music lovers to go online and find a song by typing in the artist's name and/or song name. Users of the site can upload music files, making it accessible to anyone who searches. From there, searchers can create a "playlist" to post on websites such as MySpace, Facebook, and any other site that allows HTML embedding.

Several major labels including Warner Bros and Atlantic Records have filed a lawsuit against Project Playlist to stop the distribution of the music for free and to reclaim damages. Nine labels in total have turned against the company. Oddly, none of SonyBMG's labels have filed along with Interscope and Virgin Records.

They are claiming a massive copyright infringement as the entire structure of the website is based on just that alone. On a single given day, the website generates nearly 10 million views. If the record companies get their way, either the site will be closed or maybe in court they will strike a deal to provide premium services for users, such as a monthly fee.

Project Playlist has no backbone to support its case. The company is also working on making the playlists compatible with Apple's iPods including the iPhone.

What makes this so frustrating for the record companies is not only does it take away from their profits, but because the music is streamed, it takes away from chart successes. Billboard's Hot 100 chart is a singles chart that is a combination of digital downloads, radio airplay and since summer of 2007, on-demand streaming. Not only does it hurt the companies who put forth millions of dollars, it's hurting the commercial success of the artist themselves.