Krystian Olszanski Universal Music claims that a private company providing commissary services to prisons across the US is selling inmates pirated music in the form of mixtapes, and it wants the courts to stop it. Universal Music claims in a federal lawsuit that the Keefe Group and its associated companies are selling "contraband" CDs to prisoners. According to the labels' federal suit (PDF) filed in Los Angeles: These infringing products include popular and valuable sound recordings and musical compositions owned by Plaintiffs and featuring performances by such legendary artists as James Brown, Eminem, the Jackson Five, LL Cool J, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder, among many others. Defendants boast on their website that their business "was developed to eliminate contraband," yet the infringing copies of Plaintiffs' sound recordings and musical compositions, in which Defendants unlawfully transact and from which they unjustly profit, are contraband personified. The suit appears to be a novel form of infringement litigation from the recording industry. What's more, the case comes six months after recording artists and labels sued automakers over in-car audio ripping systems. The industry is also eyeing litigation with airlines over the public performance of its copyrights. Filed Tuesday, this suit claims that Keefe, its owner, and associated business units sell "care packages" of "various items that family members and friends can send to inmates who are incarcerated in correctional facilities." Besides various foodstuffs and even electronics, the packages might include mixtapes, according to the lawsuit. Mixtapes are a form of recorded music in which DJs combine (or "mix") tracks, often recorded by different artists, onto a single CD, sometimes creating overlaps and fades between songs, and/or reflecting a common theme or mood. Such so-called "mixtapes," unless authorized by the copyright owner or owner of corresponding state law rights, are nothing more than collections of infringing, piratical compilations of copyrighted or otherwise legally protected sound recordings and copyrighted musical compositions. The "mixtape" label is frequently a cover for piracy, which harms not only owners of copyrighted sound recordings and musical compositions such as Plaintiffs, but also manufacturers and distributors of legitimate and authorized mixtapes, who are forced to compete on an unlevel playing field with competitors, such as Defendants, that are unwilling to comply with the law. Keefe, of Missouri, did not respond for comment. Its owner, the Centric Group, bills Keefe as "the nation's leading supplier of food, personal care products, electronics and clothing to the correctional commissary market." The suit says the "Centric Defendants" offer "care packages" in at least 40 states. The suit maintains that Centric Defendants sometimes "sell their infringing copies of Plaintiffs' sound recordings and musical compositions at a financial loss and/or substantially below market value, using them as a 'loss leader' to boost sales of their other goods and services." The suit seeks the maximum $150,000 in damages per music track being infringed.
