Last month, multi-channel networks Machinima and Collective Digital Studio both launched lawsuits against Freeplay Music, a company that offers licensed background music for content creators. Now, Freeplay is fighting back. After launching claims against four MCNs on February 17th, Freeplay has added to its legal action will counterclaims against both Machinima and Collective DS, which, according to a statement, “have exploited hundreds of copyrights owned and/or controlled by Freeplay Music, LLC.”
Machinima and Collective DS’ original claims stated that Freeplay operated as a “copyright troll.” The two networks alleged their creators used Freeplay’s library in a manner they believed to be free of charge. Instead, Freeplay then teamed with a separate-but-related company, TuneSat, which helped it indentify infringing videos. Freeplay then forced the parties responsible for those videos to pay license fees in order to keep using the music in question.
When Freeplay launched legal action against BroadbandTV, AwesomenessTV, Big Frame, and Maker Studios, it told a different story. The company claimed it was simply protecting its copyrighted material from “rampant infringements.” The counterclaims against Machinima and Collective DS contain a similar rationale:
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“Freeplay notified Machinima and CDS of these infringements, just as any other copyright owner in any other industry would do. But rather than pay Freeplay Music, Machinima and CDS responded by accusing Freeplay Music of ‘extortion’ and being a ‘copyright troll’—these accusations are false and only add insult to injury. Machinima’s and CDS’s systematic misappropriation of Freeplay Music’s copyrights without authorization has harmed our client. In this action we intend to protect our client’s rights and utilize the remedies and enforcement provisions provided by the Copyright Act.”
Clearly, Freeplay and the MCNs it is battling have very different ideas about this particular case. While we wait to see whose version of events the courts side with, we can only issue a reminder to creators: Be careful where you get your background music. In this case, it’s possible that Freeplay’s agreements with Apple’s DVD Studio Pro and Final Cut Pro editing software led some creators to believe those tracks were freely available without licenses. If you create videos for monetized distribution online, take this case as a cautionary tale.
