Universal files copyright claim against ‘pirate’ compilations

US record companies Universal and Capitol Records have claimed that a company selling care packages to the families of prisoners has infringed the copyright of works by artists including James Brown and Eminem.

Universal and Capitol claim that the Keefe Group, an affiliate of the California-based Access Securepak scheme, which provides the packages, did not gain permission to use musical recordings that Universal and Capitol own the copyright for.

The lawsuit targets Access Securepak’s selling of mixtapes—compilations of musical works on one CD—which are part of care packages sold on the website accesscatalog.com. The packages are aimed at families and friends of prisoners, who then pass them onto individuals serving a prison sentence.

Access Securepak claims it is the “most comprehensive package programme in the correctional industry” and that its business “was developed to eliminate contraband”.

But Universal and Capitol state that the scheme is “nothing more than collections of infringing, piratical compilations” that are in fact “contraband personified”.

Other works by Jackson Five, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder—which Universal and Capitol own the rights to—are also named in the lawsuit as being used without the record company’s permission.

In court documents filed at the US District Court for the Central District of California on January 6, the record companies are requesting $150,000 for each alleged infringement by the Access Securepak scheme.

The total amount claimed is so far unknown because the records companies have stated that they do not have a full record of their works that have allegedly been used in the scheme without permission. They claim that they contacted Keefe Group to provide a complete list of the works but that the company has so far not complied.

Keefe Group did not respond immediately to a request for comment.