Could one music downloader change U.S. copyright law?

In the age of iTunes and an-app-for-everything, Joel Tenenbaum's battle with the music industry over illegal downloading seems as relevant as an eight-track cassette.
But it turns out the fight could produce something surprisingly enduring: a change in copyright law. Reuters reports.

Back in 2007, Tenenbaum was one of 35,000 individuals sued by Recording Industry Association of America in a legal assault meant to discourage music lovers from illegally downloading songs. While the vast majority of rogue downloaders settled their cases, only Tenenbaum and one other defendant hung on for a trial.

Over the course of the litigation, Tenenbaum's testimony earned him some notoriety -- he blamed the downloading on burglars, a foster child and his sisters before finally confessing -- but the digital-rights community continued to support his case. A friend-of-the-court brief supporting Tenenbaum's constitutional arguments was co-authored by members of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a lobbying group, as well as Stanford and Berkeley law school's clinics on technology and public policy. Harvard law professor Charles Nesson, founder of the school's Berkman Center for Internet & Society, took Tenenbaum on as a client and has been representing him pro bono since 2008.

Now, as Tenenbaum's case enters its next stage, those advocates see a renewed opportunity to push for an answer on how copyright laws should be enforced.

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Music Piracy Continues to Decline Thanks to Spotify

A new report looking into online music consumption habits shows that since 2009 the number of people who pirate music has dropped by 25 percent in Sweden.

The sharp decrease coincides with a massive interest for the music streaming service Spotify. One of the main reasons why people switch to legal services is the wider range of material they can find there.

[via TorrentFreak]

Voter ringtones

The Winnipeg Free Press is offering ringtones to their readers to remind them to vote in the local elections coming up October 4.

Created by Reporter Bartley Kives and multimedia editor Tyler Walsh, you can listen here: One is a polite reminder to vote. Another is less polite. The third, well, it's downright rude.

Funny.

Spotify users steamed over Facebook requirement

Visitors to Spotify's sign-up page are told they need a Facebook account to register. CNet reports.

The new requirement comes after last week's announcement at the F8 developer conference that the social-networking giant and music-streaming service were integrating their services.

The partnership was touted as allowing Spotify users to listen to a wider selection of music. However, the integration also lets users' Facebook friends see what tunes they are currently listening to.

And that isn't sitting well with some music fans, who have been flooding discussion boards to express their displeasure with the new arrangement.

Read more.

NASA launches sound bite gallery for ringtones, alarms

Next time a text message pops up on your phone, have Neil Armstrong tell you about it, writes The LA Times.

NASA recently made historic sound bites available on its website to be downloaded to cellphones or computers as ringtones, alarms and notifications.

The sound files run the gamut from the familiar "Houston, we've had a problem" on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission to the other-worldly radio emissions of the planet Saturn.

To listen to and download the sound gallery, go here.

Read more.

Facebook Employee Reveals Killer Facebook Music Feature on Tweeter

Facebook Music is launching Friday. This, everyone knows. But not everyone knows exactly how it will work, since Facebook been tweaking things right up until launch. But last night one Facebook employee accidentally revealed one killer feature of the service. TechCrunch reports.

Creative director Ji Lee sent out the following tweet earlier:

The “Listen with your friend” feature in ticker is blowing my mind. Listen to what your friends are listening. LIVE.

Within minutes, Lee deleted the tweet, but not before Mitchell Holder grabbed a screenshot. Yes, Lee is describing a key feature of Facebook Music launching tomorrow. Not only will all music you’re listening to appear in the just-launched right-side ticker, there will be a link to “Listen with your friend”, that when clicked, will allow you to listen along to the same song at the same time (thanks to the magic of scrobbling and track matching).

OK - but one wonders if such tweets, then deleted tweets are not cleverly orchestrated just to create a buzz.

Cat ringtones

There are so many cat lovers it's surprising this has not been promoted before: Cat ringtones. From Cat Channel of course.

Listen here.

Vimeo Rumored to Launch Music Store Wednesday

YouTube rival Vimeo is reportedly launching a section dedicated entirely to music tomorrow, according to a report by Digital Music News via Launch.

The music store will have pre-licensed tracks that filmmakers can incorporate into their videos. Producers will reportedly have to pay for some of the content, but other tracks will be available through a creative commons license.

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Free Music on Facebook: How Can It Fail?

Mashable. Facebook will launch a music service later this month, we reported last week. Facebook is partnering with top music services Spotify, MOG and Rdio to let users stream music on Facebook.com.

Nokia offers $10,000 to creator of their next ringtone

Nokia is inviting people to create a new Nokia ringtone. The winning tune will be placed next to the standard Nokia Tune in a selection of the company 2012 product portfolio.

The tune should be fresh, expressive, original, creative yet distinctively a Nokia Tune. All collaborations are welcome.

First prize: $10,000, runners up (5x) $1,000.

Read Contest Rules. The winners will be announced on 7th October 2011.

[via Zunited]

Trivia: The origin of the "Nokia Ringtone" - For those of us without a musical ear and who have not recognized the score, the famous and generally considered annoying Nokia ringtone since 1994 - is actually a 13 note rendering of Francisco Tarrega's masterpiece, Gran Vals. Tarrega was a 19th-century Spanish musician considered by aficionados to be the father of the modern classical guitar. Click here to listen to original rendition by Francisco Tarrega.

Facebook Adding Music Services

According to the WSJ, Facebook is preparing changes designed to make the site a hub for listening to music, watching movies and playing videogames.

Facebook has told media executives in recent days that it will begin letting online music services such as Spotify AB and Rdio Inc. publish user activity on Facebook pages, much like actions such as adding friends or "liking" websites.

Read more.

Elvis Presley Estate Sues to Recover Ringtone

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the King's estate has announced a multimillion dollar lawsuit filed in Germany demanding proper payment over new media income such as ringtones, downloads and entertainment apps.

The lawsuit alleges that the iconic Elvis Presley "was unjustly exploited during his lifetime by his record company,"

Read full article.