EMI Sues Vimeo for Hosting “Lip Dub” Music Videos

December 17th, 2009 by Daniel Kreps Leave a reply »

EMI Music has sued the video streaming site Vimeo for encouraging its users to post “lip dubs,” or music videos that feature users creatively lip-syncing over a prerecorded song. According to MediaPost, EMI’s complaint is that Vimeo is using complete, high-quality recordings for the lip dubs, which could violate the terms of fair use. “Vimeo has extensive knowledge of the use of copyrighted recordings on its Website, and Vimeo encourages and induces its users to copy, adapt, and upload copyrighted recordings,” EMI wrote in their lawsuit.

EMI has kept its lawyers busy recently as Terra Firma, the company that bought up the beleaguered label, slapped CitiGroup with a suit for recommending EMI would be a good purchase, which it has evidently not been, Business Insider reports. Despite the success of the Beatles remasters, EMI is also reportedly seeking investors to help relieve the company’s $4 billion debt, Reuters reports. So perhaps a ruling against Vimeo will help chip away at that multi-billion-dollar goal.

If “lip dubs” are a target today, who’s to say those amazing Literal Music Videos won’t be deemed illegal tomorrow. Of course, it’s also probably just a coincidence that EMI’s lawsuit against Vimeo comes just a few weeks after the major label agreed to terms to license its music and videos to Vevo, YouTube’s new video streaming site made in collaboration with the record industry. Neither Vimeo nor EMI commented to Mediapost regarding the lawsuit. Until the Vimeo and EMI lawsuit is sorted out, enjoy a “lip dubbing” of Weezer’s “Perfect Situation”:

Lip Dub – Perfect Situation from Adam Needs on Vimeo.

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Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily

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