Music Piracy Reaches Indie Labels

Internet music piracy has branched out from major record labels to include smaller indie labels such as Eddie Dattel’s Inside Sounds in Memphis.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal reported the local independent label became one of the most recent indie victims of online piracy when Dattel discovered his Fried Glass Onions: Memphis Meets the Beatles album set illegally available on the music Web site for the Global Electronic Music Marketplace.

There’s a little part of me that is flattered, said the Memphis owner. “It’s like, ‘Wow, these people acknowledge the marketability of what we created.’

But it does belong to us. And no one should use it without our permission, and proper payment.

When Dattel contacted GEMM regarding the illegal bootleg, the company informed him that the album originated in Russia, which has not conformed to international copyright laws, and had been removed from the site as of Monday afternoon, teh newspaper said.

Dattel said due his label’s small size he has no plans to file suit against those behind the piracy, but stressed the importance of creative ownership rights and the impact piracy can have, the newspaper said.