MP3tunes.com announced Thursday that it filed for bankruptcy in San Diego, according to multiple media reports. The company, founded by former MP3.com founder Michael Robertson in 2005, had been battered with lawsuits from EMI since 2007.
“Four and a half years of legal costs and we’re not even out of trial,” Robertson told CNET, which first reported the news. “MP3tunes has no choice but to file [for bankruptcy]… This is what they do. The labels engage in multiyear legal battles and put small companies through hell for years.”
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In documents posted online by one of Robertson’s former employees, the company listed $7,754 in assets and $2,108,966 million in liabilities.
Robertson, who founded one of the first digital music services more than 15 years ago, has tangled with the major labels for the entire time.
“EMI went to other companies and demanded that they not work with us,” he told CNET. “They went to retailers, as one example, and forbid those guys to work with us.”
He said he was uncertain whether he would pursue those accusations legally.