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GEMA obtains injunctions against RapidShare

20 January 2007 11:22 by Ben "Lethal_B" Reid | 23 comments

GEMA, Germany's society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights, has obtained temporary injunctions against the operator of poupular data exchange services RapidShare.de and RapidShare.com.

RapidShare.com is said to have used copyrighted works of GEMA members "in an unlawful fashion".

The RapidShare.com & .de services operate in a near identical fashion. They both allow users to upload content on virtual storage space, which therefore makes it publicly available.

GEMA spokesman Hans-Herwig Geyer believes neither site should be permitted to continue operations in their present form, according to Heise Online.

The collecting society is demanding details be revealed by RapidShare's operator of exactly how many copyrighted files of GEMA artists it currently stores without permission. However, according to Geyer, RapidShare has to date claimed it has no knowledge or control of the content uploaded by its users.

The District Court in Cologne, from whom the injunctions were obtained, has made it clear that although it was the users and not the operators that uploaded the content in question to the RapidShare servers, this did not, (at least from a legal point of view), make the operator of RapidShare any less liable for copyright infringements occurred within the context of the services.

Harald Heker, the chairman of the executive board of GEMA, believes the outcome of the court's decisions will have a knock on effect with the way "Web 2.0 services" such as YouTube and MySpace will be dealt with in the future.

Heker believes that such decisions show is that "the mere circumstance of shifting acts of use to users and the purported inability of the operator to control content do not relieve the operator of a service from the copyright liability he/she/it possesses for the content made available for download from the operator's website".

Source:
Heise Online

Permalink to this article

Rapidshare to appeal German court decision (29 June 2009)

Court rules against Rapidshare in Germany (25 June 2009)

German book publishers want Rapidshare blocked (25 April 2009)

German Court: Rapidshare has to check all uploads for copyright infringement (2 October 2008)

Rapidshare to fight against German court ruling (16 February 2008)

Rapidshare.com loses court battle (26 January 2008)

YouTube fails to implement promised piracy software (2 January 2007)

Universal Music Group sues MySpace (19 November 2006)

MySpace will begin blocking illegal content (31 October 2006)

Music label boss slams RIAA suits (21 August 2006)

YouTube new target for RIAA (4 June 2006)

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solarf (Member) 20 January 2007 11:44
It seems like this is happening all around the world. [ + quote]
b18bek9 (Member) 20 January 2007 12:14
it was only a matter of time figuring theres a million site like rapidshare and its one of the most popluar it was bound to happen. They cant stop file sharing as soon as rapid share goes down another one will pop up its a never ending battle. So i say share everything and lets see the MPAA RIAA and everyone else backing them go down in flames. Figuring the corporations could careless about you and the consumers why taking your money either way i say pirate away. Sad to see theres no real resolution in it. just my 2 cents on the subject [ + quote]
Pop_Smith (Senior Member) 20 January 2007 13:51
Its strange that this isn't the RIAA suing. Other sites have already picked up on the Rapidshare thing. They are just a Google away. :p [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 20 January 2007 14:31
This is absloutlety crappy. Ok maybe people do it but i find it a very good way of sharing more than programs it can be used to send large video files and music to the people who you want to give it to if you don't have a server setup yourself. [ + quote]
tabletpc (Inactive) 20 January 2007 16:52
na na na na na na na na heyaa goodbye im so glad to see this site getting what it deserves because this site is stupid if you payed the fee then not only do you face jail time because they will have your account information but almost everything you download via rapidshare you have to pay for to get good download speeds lame lame lame [ + quote]
svtstang (AfterDawn Addict) 20 January 2007 18:57
Quote: na na na na na na na na heyaa goodbye im so glad to see this site getting what it deserves because this site is stupid if you payed the fee then not only do you face jail time because they will have your account information but almost everything you download via rapidshare you have to pay for to get good download speeds lame lame lame 1.Do you know of the word "punctuation?" Learn it, love it, use it. Also did you know your full of it? Rapidshare has a grip of users, and guess what, a lot do not use it for piracy reasons. I have a premium account and use it to share family vids with members of my family that live across the country, do I deserve jail time? This is a german agency, therefore will have no affect for people like me in the US....even if it did, RS would cease to exist because I gurantee if RS gave up personal info they would be out of business. There are bigger fish to fry, why not spend the cash on convicting rapists or trying to find a cure for a disease such as AIDS? You want to know why? These big agencies are full of sh!t and are only worried about lining their pockets. Period. [ + quote]
webe123 (Inactive) 20 January 2007 19:17
@stvstang....I agree with what you say. tabletpc is just being a troll. No need to feed it. [ + quote]
craftyzan (Member) 20 January 2007 20:31
Stay with Amule! Or Emule if your in Windows! That's what I use to find things you can't find for purchase anymore...the really really rare. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 21 January 2007 7:00
borhan9 thats what they want to control data to enforce fees so that this "data" is protected from their wrath...there is a reason they are part of the media mafia. svtstang/webe123 so I take it he dosent have the right to complain that its a fee based service that maybe might be breaking the law because tis making a profit off illicit transfers,its one thing to to skirt the law its another to openly break it and expect that nothing will happen. svtstang bonk how ya been man? ^^ [ + quote]
BobbyBlu (Inactive) 21 January 2007 8:25
Quote: @stvstang....I agree with what you say. tabletpc is just being a troll. No need to feed it. Anything coming from tabletpc don't shock me.... We are still waiting on a link to this BS he said here.... http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/453713 LOL... There is nothing wrong with rapidshare i have used it for months. Microsoft: Ps3 cant do 60fps on 1080p. Guess what they were WRONG!!!!! (11/19/05 - 9/19/06) Microsoft: Sony's 1080p support on PS3 is all Hype and Not Needed. (9/20/06) Microsoft: Xbox 360 to add 1080p support. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 21 January 2007 8:34
BobbyBlu Takes a troll to know one I suppose...yyeeesssssss damn to much beast wars I now have a megatron voice in my head 0-o BTW I am a net ogre their bigger and more hairy than trolls..not as energinic either 0-o FIGHT THE M.A.F.I.A.A. Sony has declared war on importers the consumer will be next with CD's,Videos/Games not far behind that....boycott SONY! http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/8062.cfm [ + quote]
webe123 (Inactive) 21 January 2007 9:25
@ZippyDSM...I could really care LESS WHAT you think! If I want to say something I am going to, regardless of what you say or do. And I was adressing the fact that the he thought that it was FUNNY about people possibly getting sued for using the site. If that is what he thinks is funny, there is something with both HIM and YOU if you are of the same mindset...which apparently you are for sticking up for a troll. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 21 January 2007 9:31
webe123 if you gotta say it say it ^^ I try to say it but fail ;_; [ + quote]
tefarko (Junior Member) 22 January 2007 2:53
so another court decision favoring the big corps... sueing the space provider because of the content users put there is the same as saying that if you rent a house to a drug smuggler you�ll be responsible for his crimes... so as the saying goes, everyone is equal before the law, ... but some are more equal than others... [ + quote]
solarf (Member) 22 January 2007 6:40
I couldn't agree more. [ + quote]
gogochar (Senior Member) 22 January 2007 10:04
Oh lord, I hope they don't do MediaFire next. That'll be horrible. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22 January 2007 10:05
Noak192 (Inactive) 22 January 2007 14:47
i got hit by lightning for spamming this here fine site of ad! edited by ddp [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 22 January 2007 16:33
svtstang (AfterDawn Addict) 22 January 2007 18:38
Wow did all these guys get hit in this thread? If so, i nominate this thread for the yearly "most bans in a thread" award ;) Ripper FTW! [ + quote]
Sontiago (Newbie) 27 January 2007 18:41
Well here's something for all to learn...... Big Corporations do not only own American, but the rest of the world to... Oh how the times change, the more they seem to stay the same.. .. sigh..... [ + quote]
craftyzan (Member) 28 January 2007 0:34
A handful of gigantic elephants (*AA's) and legionds of little mice (us)...that is the net. [ + quote]
malves (Newbie) 28 January 2007 11:17
Some folks just don't read the fine print. GEMA took the high profile road instead of using the "friendly" option Rapidshare provides. From the Rapidshare support link (http://rapidshare.com/en/imprint.html): Abuse-Management: Illegal files will be deleted as soon as we get notice about them. We will also put them on an internal black-list so they can't be uploaded again. Please write an e-mail with the exact links to the files to our abuse department at abuse@rapidshare.com. To make sure your e-mail will be processed as fast as possible, please add the following details: - Please identify yourself as the owner of the material or as an authorized person to act for the owner. - Please add your contact-details including your telephone-number so we can contact you if we have questions. - Please add the links to the files the following way: http://rapidshare.com/files/... [ + quote]
Gadarene (Inactive) 19 January 2008 17:12
I guess sites like this one that made mirrors for every rapidshare file are lucky now. freesexgirls.blogspot.com [ + quote]
profvic (Newbie) 20 January 2008 14:53
Every datail of the laws involving file sharing should be made known to the web users sort of a bill of rights per country or better yet Worldwide.I use RS to get films on Divx is that Illegal? Most software and movies let's face it ,if you want it you're gonna buy it from the company to get the best product. I'm afraid though the File sharing freedoms of today are gonna be like other alleged freedoms a thing of the past and something to tell our grandchildren about. The powers that be are like my bosses at my job,they care but they don't care.Enjoy while you may!! [ + quote]