The RIAA released their statement regarding their current duel with Muxtape, simply saying they had been in communications with Muxtape for months but the site “was hosting copies of copyrighted sound recordings without authorization from the copyright owners. Making these recordings available for streaming playback also requires authorization from the copyright owners.”

In their defense, there could be legal grounds that keeps Muxtape in the clear, preventing them from owing even one red cent to the RIAA.

In the meantime, Fred Von Lohmann, a senior intellectual property attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation told RollingStone.com that he believes Muxtape could be on pretty steady legal grounds if it decides to fight the shutdown order from the RIAA. Von Lohmann said the site is protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which provides “safe harbor” for sites that host material on behalf of users, which is the same defense used by sites like YouTube.

Since no one was actually downloading/illegally acquiring material, Muxtape may not have been violating any laws or rules…except that one about paying the RIAA before they take their ball home.

Previously Posted — Muxtape Shut Down By RIAA?