RIAA sues free music streaming app Aurous

Just days after the launch of the newest music piracy application to hit the world wide web, Aurous – labeled as the ‘Popcorn Time of music’ - is being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in conjunction with major record labels UMG and Sony Music.

The highly anticipated streaming service has been on the radar of industry watchdogs for months now, and with the initial inception of the applications launch, authorities wasted no time in coming down hard on the application.

With the filing of the law suit occurring on Tuesday, the potential damages and costs for the initial action could see Aurous forking out 3 million dollars before the site even reaches a substantial user-ship. If successful, the RIAA are also seeking injunctions that will prevent other businesses and advertisers dealing with Aurous.

Founder and creator of the site, Andrew Sampson, has been linked to the notorious movie streaming service Popcorn Time, which has become a cult phenomena in the movie piracy world. Known for its brazen advertisement as the site “that will never be taken down,” Popcorn Time is by far the most used and abused service in Australia of late for pirated movie streaming.

Tapping into the library of pirated music hosted by the controversial Russian site Pleer, Aurous doesn’t use the regulated and legal BitTorrent integration recommended by authorities. Pleer itself seems to be at the forefront for many accusations, as Russian regulators continue to advance heavy infringement tactics on the site. Lawyers for the RIAA stated in their complaint that Pleer has “been the subject of repeated copyright complaints by rights holders to the Russian government. Its home page brazenly offers free unauthorized downloads of major recording artists’ top tracks for the week, year, and all time.”

In reference to Aurous, RIAA lawyers also stated in their complaint that, “this service is a flagrant example of a business model powered by copyright theft on a massive scale.”

“Like Grokster, Limewire or Grooveshark, it is neither licensed nor legal. We will not allow such a service to wilfully trample the rights of music creators.”

In comments posted to Twitter last night, Sampson raised the flag even higher for his lack of concern when referencing the lawsuit.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere,” reads Sampson’s tweet. “Empty lawsuits aren’t going to stop the innovation of the next best media player.”

Sampson even challenged CEO’s: “Hey @RIAA @UMG and everyone else, we challenge every CEO to an arm wrestling competition, we win you drop your empty suit.”

With the continued defiance and longevity of Popcorn Time, Sampson seems to have constructed a worthy platform that if transferred to Aurous, could see mega music streaming giants continue to scramble for subscribers. The concern for the artist, however, seems to be left in the ditch as labels fight for catalogue royalties and rouge tech entrepreneur egos continue to play the field.