Two weeks ago, CNET reported that Grooveshark, a music service that provides free access to songs by enabling users to post their own music to the site, had seen its app banned from the Android Market. It later came out that Google acted after receiving a complaint about Grooveshark from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the trade group for the four largest record companies. The search giant banned the app without providing Grooveshark any warning or opportunity to defend itself. Google also didn't disclose how exactly the music company violated Google's policies, according to Grooveshark.
EMI and Universal Music Group, two of the top record labels, have accused Grooveshark of copyright violations in separate lawsuits filed against the Gainesville, Fla.-based company. EMI settled its suit, but the legal battle with Universal Music Group continues. In a blog post yesterday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a group that advocates for Internet users and technology companies, noted the irony in Google's apparent loss of respect for the concept of transparency and for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Julie Samuels, an EFF staff attorney, pointed out that in the not-so-distant past Google criticized Apple for allegedly lacking transparency and adopting "draconian" business practices.
"But who's being draconian now?" Samuels wrote. Google did not respond to an interview request.
Samuels then took aim at Google's relationship with the DMCA's safe harbor provision. In past dustups with copyright owners, Google has repeatedly argued that the DMCA protects services, such as YouTube, eBay, and Craigslist, from being held liable for acts of copyright infringement committed by users. That's the same legal argument Google used to defend YouTube against a copyright lawsuit filed by Viacom in 2007. That's the same argument Grooveshark managers say protects them.
"That Google would perform a copyright takedown without requiring a valid notice under the (DMCA) is surprising to say the least," Samuels wrote. "Especially given that Google just last week filed its reply brief in the Viacom v. YouTube appeal, vigorously defending its policy of responding only to valid DMCA notices where copyright complaints are concerned."
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