XM Satellite Asks For Dismissal of Inno Infringement Case
XM Satellite Radio has requested that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York throw out the Inno Infringement lawsuit, claiming that the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) protects devices like the Inno from liability for copyright infringement. According to XM, the AHRA prohibits a party “from filing claims for copyright infringement based on the manufacture, importation, sale or consumer use of digital audio recording devices.”
In an effort to clarify just what its device can and cannot do, XM released a fact sheet on the Inno’s capabilities. The company emphasizes that consumers cannot use the player to “automatically” record individual songs. Instead, according to the company, the Inno can alert a listener when a particular song is playing, and listeners will then have to switch to the appropriate channel and choose to record the song. Even then, they will only be able to grab that portion of the song that has yet to be played, and they might also end up recording DJ voices and “overlapping beginnings and ends of adjacent songs” on the broadcast.
Overall, says XM, the Inno experience is similar to the experience offered by traditional terrestrial broadcasts, where consumers are able to employ a cassette recorder to preserve AM or FM signals. Should a listener prefer a “pristine” recording, the device allows consumers to “bookmark” songs for purchase through XM+Napster. And that option may be attractive to listeners, as content stored on the Inno cannot be transported to another device and also becomes inaccessible once a subscription is terminated.
The Future: All excellent points by XM, but the NY District Court has a spotty track record in regards to these types of cases. A settlement is at hand.
