J.R.McHale

Wired: “A key test of digital-copyright law will be heard soon in New York federal court: whether online music storage services and search engines can be held liable when users upload copyright material. The outcome could have far-reaching implications for so-called “cloud-based” services, which allow users to store their content on remote servers accessible on the internet.”

According to Techcrunch, a number of online mp3 sellers (Apple, LaLa (owned by Apple) and Walmart) watermark the mp3’s they are selling by embedding personal information of the buyer (e.g., name). Techcrunch’s source says music labels, which are negotiating cloud music services with certain parties, “are demanding that a user can only stream music that is watermarked to their username. Change the username, or try to stream music that you’ve ripped from a CD, and those songs won’t play.”