SoundCloud facing multi-million dollar lawsuit

As reported by Digital Music News, embattled streaming platform SoundCloud has been hit with a lawsuit worth millions of dollars over patent infringement concerning its new ‘Go’ subscription tier.

The company responsible for launching the lawsuit is Blackbird Technologies, who claim that their valuable IP for temporary downloads is being unlawfully exploited by SoundCloud. The IP in question allows users to locally store songs for offline access.

The infringement pertains to US Patent No. 7,174,362, titled, ‘Method and System for Supplying Products from Pre-Stored Digital Data in Response to Demands Transmitted via Computer Network.’ The plaintiff registered the patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office in February 2007.

It is alleged that it covers the technology that gives streaming services the functionality to prohibit user access to songs in which they have downloaded for offline storage, once their subscription runs out. The patent also covers associated features such as transferring of metadata and download indexing, according to documents obtained by Digital Music News.

However, this particular functionality is not unique to SoundCloud and is a key component for numerous subscription streaming services. Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play and TIDAL also offer users offline access to songs.

While questions remain over the validity of Blackbird’s case, SoundCloud will be forced to appeal their case in court, as they face serious allegations of damages from a company that claims sole ownership of these core, common technologies used abundantly across the web.

Last September, the Berlin-based SoundCloud launched its subscription platform, Soundcloud Go, in Australia after entering the US, the UK, Ireland and France. Soundcloud Go allows users to create playlists, follow artists and listen to music ad free.

SoundCloud was valued at $1 billion in July 2016 by its owners and boasts 175 million active users, which includes its SoundCloud Go user base.