Face the music: suits pending over copy controls



Yaz used our newssubmit to tell us that two law firms say they may file class action lawsuits against some of the largest record labels.

They want to file the lawsuits because the recording industry is not really open about the protections used. They don't tell the consumer when it's used and what side effects it has.

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But they may soon be outed. Attorneys from the Pennsylvania law firm Feldman & Rifkin and the California law firm Kaplan, Fox & Kilsheimer are collecting complaints from angry music fans who believe the music CDs they bought are copy-protected without adequate labeling.

Both firms say they may file class action lawsuits against some of the largest record labels. The complaints include alleged "deceptive trade practices" and "breaking labeling laws" by selling music CDs that won't play or cannot be copied on a PC.

Music labels are doing the public a disservice by not clearly labeling copy-protected CDs, says attorney Larry Feldman, whose prospective suit is in the "investigative stage" now. Donald Hall, of Kaplan, Fox & Kilsheimer, confirmed a similar investigation by his firm, but is otherwise tight-lipped. "We are investigating the corruption and copy protection of music CDs in the U.S.," Hall says.

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Well there are some protections that are easy to recognize, like the widely used Key2Audio (by Sony) that has a "Will not play on PC/MAC" label on the cover.

Read more about the details here.

Source: PCworld.com

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