By Ahmad Hathout
Using precedent, the Federal Court is entering relatively new territory in the site-blocking era, as it ordered internet service providers Monday to block websites that allow people to turn streaming music videos into free downloadable audio files.
Trade group Music Canada brought the action on behalf of its members, including Sony, Universal, and Warner, which targeted such “stream ripping” websites that allow users to input URLs of music videos from YouTube and turn them into downloadable and permanent MP3 files.
“The stream ripping platforms operated by the John Doe Respondents circumvent the security measures implemented by YouTube in order to create a permanent, downloadable copy of audio or video content from the stream provided on YouTube, without authorisation by YouTube or the Applicants,” the court said Monday.
The court ordered ISPs to block the websites and told the website operators, which were sent infringement notices and did not have legal representation, to shut down them down. The blocking order is against what Music Canada called “three leading operators of websites” in the stream ripping space: Y2Mate, Y2MP3, and Savefrom.
“Stream ripping is one of the most widespread forms of music piracy today,” said a release from Music Canada, which called the decision a “landmark” first-of-its-kind decision.
“It cuts artists out of the royalties they’ve earned by siphoning listeners away from legitimate streaming services, and it directly threatens the foundation of Canada’s music marketplace, as online streaming now drives more than 75% of recorded music revenue in Canada.”
Music Canada also said this action comes on the heels of successful cease-and-desist notices that resulted in the closure or blocking of such stream-ripping services, including the most popular in Canada, which was getting up to 1.7 million monthly visits.
The court’s decision also targets attempts by the operators to change domains or IP addresses by streamlining requests to block “copycat” websites, stemming from the “Soap2Day” decision in December 2024.
Whereas the court has previously made orders that defined a particular domain to be blocked – with additional websites requiring justification – the “Soap2Day” order allows the plaintiffs, through a simplified motion to the court, to expand the list of website domains for internet service providers to block if those sites make infringing content, are unresponsive to notices of infringement, and operate in “substantially the same ways as the existing sites.”
The first site-blocking order in Canada was against GoldTV in 2019, which was a contested decision that was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal. It thereafter spawned new orders targeting the streaming of unlicensed television content and live sports.
