Record labels sue another music site

A group of US recording labels has issued a lawsuit against online music service provider, MP3Board, in yet another attempt by the industry to stamp out what it claims to be acts of copyright violation.

Sony, BMG and other major record labels have sued MP3Board alleging that the website has enabled users to create pirated copies of tens of thousands of copyrighted songs and post them on the web.

The recording companies have asked MP3Board to stop posting the songs and to pay damages of up to $150,000 for each track allegedly infringed.

According to the suit, the site allows users to copy "some of the most commercially successful records in the world".

The move follows a lawsuit issued by MP3Board earlier this month against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The website claims that the association, which acts on behalf of major US recording companies, is attempting to close it down.

In its lawsuit, MP3Board argues that it is a search facility providing hyperlinks to music sites and areas where users can download MP3 files, but that it does not hold such files on any of its servers.

Commenting on its lawsuit against RIAA, Ira Rothken, MP3Board's attorney, said: "We are not like Napster...What this lawsuit is about is whether a search engine or automated linking service has an obligation to edit hyperlinks to other sites."