Judge allows EMI to personally sue Robertson

Update: 5:42 p.m. PT: To include information about a witness being compensated by EMI.

The copyright lawsuit filed by major recording company EMI against Michael Robertson, founder of MP3tunes.com, took an unexpected turn on Friday.

A U.S. District judge will allow EMI to file suit against Robertson personally--not just his company, MP3tunes, according to a copy of the judge's decision. Besides accusing MP3tunes of violating its copyright in a suit filed in November 2007, EMI also named Robertson as a defendant.

A year ago, a judge in the case threw out the copyright-infringing charges against Robertson, but on Friday, Judge William Pauley, for the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, decided to let EMI once again name Robertson as a defendant.

Michael Robertson, founder of MP3tunes.com

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

The reason for the switch was the new evidence provided by MP3tunes' former president. In April of 2008, Emily Richards gave a deposition. In July of this year, 10 months after she left the company, she gave another one. In the latter testimony, Richards said Robertson was making a lot of the decisions for the company and that Robertson handled "technical, product decision, and legal matters without her involvement." This, argues EMI, shows that Robertson exercised control over MP3tunes and this should allow it to bring a suit against him personally.

MP3tunes, which allows users to store their songs in a digital locker and access them from any Web-enabled device, argued that this statement was consistent with Richards' earlier testimony. The judge didn't buy it.

"From the court's review of both depositions, it is clear that Richards provided new testimony," Pauley wrote.

Robertson said on Monday afternoon that the difference between Richards first deposition and her last was that EMI paid her $10,000. An EMI spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.

In Pauley's decision, he notes that EMI agreed to compensate Richards for "documented legal fees and costs up to $10,000" as well as pay expenses for her lawyer. The judge apparently saw nothing wrong with the arrangement. Pauley however noted that Richard testified that she left the company at Robertson's request, a fact that "bears on her credibility."

The good news for Robertson, who also founded MP3.com (now owned by CNET publisher CBS Interactive) and Linspire, is that Pauley threw out one of EMI's copyright claims. EMI's other claims, however, will be allowed to proceed.

Robertson, who in the past has called EMI's attempts to sue him personally "despicable," said that EMI's attempts to go after his personal assets is the music label's newest way of discouraging technologists from developing businesses that use their content in ways they don't like.

"We want to argue the merits of the case," Robertson said. "They want to drag it out...people should be able to store their music online."

The case is scheduled to go to trial in March.

[messer111]

Question: How does a company president avoid liability, limit legal costs and protect her personal assets?
Answer: By saying in her second deposition that she saw nothing, heard nothing and made no decisions cuz she is just a poor weak woman and the other defendant is the Darth Vader. Just surprised a judge would fall for it.

[umbrae]

Wouldn't this case be thrown out based on the case with Cablevision. If cable vision can store movies for users why it is not ok for MP3tune.com to store music?

[MrMe003]

oh why they (emi) keep doing this, what harm it has if somebody upload his music to the service where anybody than him self can access it?

i can make my own server to the net where i put my all digital medias, then i just stream these stuff where i want, if i can prove that nobody else than me can access it, then it need to be legal.

i want do music what i purhased what i even want.

well i dont purhase music nowdays anyway, i have spotify.

[MrMe003]

ouch, sure i mean that nobody else can't access to the locker, only him self. :D

i dont know what i thinking when i write that typoline :D

[t8]

Hi this is the leader of the Record Companies.
Let this be a lesson to all innovators out there.
We are coming after you.
Eventually we will force you back to CDs.
Throw away all MP3 technology. It will be worthless when we are finished.

[Kiljoy616]

Well since they can't play nice with legal companies I guess it will be illegal companies that will bring the next new innovations. What a joke.