RapidShare fined for copyright infringement in Germany

RapidShare fined for copyright infringement in Germany

German courts have found RapidShare guilty of copyright infringement.

The web based file sharing service has been fined $34 Million. The money goes to GEMA which is the German body responsible for collecting copyright-related fees for distribution to member artists.

GEMA said in a statement about this victory: “The judgment states that the hosting service itself is now responsible for making sure that none of the music tracks concerned are distributed via its platform in the future. This means that the copyright holder is no longer required to perform the ongoing and complex checks.”

RapidShare has also been told to monitor their servers for copyright infringing material. They would now have to remove it on their if we are to believe the ruling.

Bobby Chang, COO of RapidShare had this to say: “We do not consider the court’s decision to be a breakthrough. As other proceedings in similar disputes with GEMA have shown, there is considerable disparity amongst the individual courts in some cases. Our experience is that the courts of appeal tend to restrict the scope of the decisions made by the lower courts. For this reason, we think that it would make more sense to work together to provide music fans with the right services at the right price and to open up a new source of income for music-markets on the Internet.”

RapidShare is one of the most popular file sharing services on the web. It is also one of the most popular online destinations to get access to movies and music files.