Audible Magic Press Release
Audible Magic Forms Agreement with Universal Music Group to Support its RepliCheck Anti-Piracy System
LOS GATOS, California — August 12, 2003 — Today Audible Magic, a provider of technology and services that enable secure and reliable identification of audio and video, announced that it has reached an agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s largest music company, to support RepliCheck, Audible Magic’s anti-piracy information system. Under this non-exclusive agreement, UMG will become the first major music company to directly deliver its music electronically for inclusion in the RepliCheck database. This will ensure that UMG artists’ music is registered in RepliCheck’s anti-piracy database at the time of release. The RepliCheck database is one of the largest in the world, currently numbering 3.7 million songs, with more than 5 – 10,000 new songs added each week.
RepliCheck provides a comprehensive and automated method to identify copyrighted content before it is reproduced. The service quickly scans incoming manufacturing jobs for copyrighted music, employing Audible Magic’s patented digital fingerprinting technology to compare song fingerprints against its massive song database. It then accurately identifies and reports title, artist, releasing label, and copyright date for each individual song. This information can then be cross-referenced against a customer’s license documentation.
In use by leading CD/DVD replicators worldwide, RepliCheck provides the media replication industry with an information tool to help prevent unintentional copying of copyrighted music. The service has prevented thousands of unauthorized CDs from being manufactured and is recognized by the International Recording Media Association (IRMA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Vance Ikezoye, founder and CEO of Audible Magic, said, “UMG’s support of RepliCheck demonstrates their commitment to ensuring protection of their music. The level of protection is only as good as the completeness and timeliness of our database. This agreement will ensure that the protection of UMG music from unintentional piracy is as comprehensive as possible.”
David Benjamin, senior vice president of anti-piracy for UMG said, “With the growing concern about the physical piracy of copyrighted material, we believe the RepliCheck system offers an accurate and reliable solution to verify the use of copyrighted content.”
About Audible Magic, Inc.
Audible Magic Corporation provides content management and anti-piracy services to the media and entertainment industries as well as to business, governmental, and educational institutions. The company's offerings utilize patented content identification technologies and an extensive reference database of audio and video content. Its digital technology and services are designed to monitor, track, manage, filter, and monetize digital content in all of its forms. The company has been active providing solutions for the Web 2.0 user-generated content video sharing sites.
Audible Magic has long-term relationships with the major record labels that have registered their content in the company’s database that holds one of the largest collections of copyrighted digital song recording fingerprints in the world. Corporate partners include EMI Recorded Music, Palisade Systems, Sony/BMG Music, Universal Music Group, V2 Music, Warner Music Group, and EMI Recorded Music. Audible Magic’s technology is also employed by Grouper, iMesh and PlayLouder MSP music service. Other major market customers include over 70 educational institutions and the media manufacturing industry. Audible Magic’s products include the CopySense P2P Plug-In; CopySense Network Appliance, and RepliCheck.
The Company was founded in 1999, and it operates from offices in Los Gatos, Los Angeles, and Berkeley, California.
For more information, visit Audible Magic’s website at www.audiblemagic.com.
For more information, please contact:
Audible Magic Media & Analyst Inquiries
Sarah McMullenMcMullen & Company
310.283.7907
smcmullen@earthlink.net