Storing music files online illegal

A SERVIE letting people store their music online has been ruled an infringement of copyright by a Tokyo district court.

According to the Everyday Newspaper, the service run by an outfit called 'Image City' enabled the punter to store their CD in an off-site server. It could then be downloaded to a mobile phone when the customer was on the move.

However the cunning plan was attacked by the Japanese music copyright association (JASRAC) who claimed that it was an infringement of copyright. It has demanded that the service be switched off.

Image City claimed that the data on its servers belonged to the customer. They were not copying it for other people's use and therefore could do with it what they liked.

It seems that the Judge disagreed. There is a translation of the story here. µ