RIAA Cheers 'Stream Ripping' Damages Recommendation

A U.S. magistrate judge's recommendation that an alleged Russian streaming piracy operation pay music labels $83 million in statutory damages is "a major step forward to protect artists, songwriters, record labels, and consumers from one of the most pernicious forms of online piracy," said RIAA Chief Legal Officer Ken Doroshow Monday. In the U.S. District Court report and recommendation last week (docket 18-cv-00957), Judge Theresa Buchanan of Alexandria, Virginia, said the plaintiffs sufficiently argued that defendant Tofig Kurbanov and his "stream ripping" websites that convert YouTube URLs to MP3s of copyrighted music circumvent the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Doroshow said the lawsuit "sets out vital first principles that should chart a path for further enforcement against foreign stream-rippers and other forms of online piracy that undermine the legitimate market for music.” Kurbanov's lawyer didn't comment.