ReDigi Is “Gearing Up For War” With EMI

"ReDigi Gearing Up For War: Latest Development In Capitol Records v EMI" reads the subject line of he email received at Hypebot HQ over the weekend.  It's an unusual pr tactic for a small startup as they prepare for a trial.  But in this David (ReDidigi) vs. Goliath (99.9% of the music industry) story that will determine the company's future, what ReDigi has nothing to loose.

The press release was to announce that ReDigi, which facilitates the sale of 'used' mp3's, has switched lawyers just prior to trial and engaged Meister Seelig & Fein LLP as its lead counsel in its pending litigation with Capitol Records, effective immediately. The court must approve the change.

ReDigi's current attorney, Ray Beckerman, has also filed a motion asking to be removed and including a retaining lien. "My firm does have, and is exercising, a retaining lien," states Beckerman's filing, suggesting that some bills remain unpaid.

"ReDigi is a company that stands for the legal dissemination of music and they offer a proactive solution to piracy, which benefits the consumer, the artist and the Record Companies," new ReDigi Counsel Gary Adelman of Meister Seelig & Fein offered in satement. Most in the music disagree. 

Google Gets Involved

ReDigi does have a few powerful allies.  Google lawyers have written in support of Redigi that "the continued vitality of the cloud computing industry – which constituted an estimated 41 billion dollar global market in 2010 – depends in large part on a few key legal principles that the preliminary injunction motion implicates". Among them, Google argued, that mp3 files are not "material objects".