Bruce Willis may sue Apple over iTunes downloads

LONDON: Bruce Willis, who is more usually seen escaping from explosions and battling terrorists to save the world, has now taken to the considerably quieter world of the courtroom in his latest battle.

The 57-year-old actor is said to be considering legal action against Apple over his desire to leave his digital music collection to his daughters.

Bruce Willis is said to be considering legal action against Apple
over his desire to leave his digital music collection to his daughters

If he succeeds, he could benefit not just himself and his family but the millions who have purchased songs from Apple's iTunes Store.

Willis has discovered that, like anyone who has bought music online, he does not actually own the tracks but is instead 'borrowing' them under a licence.

Most purchasers do not bother to read the details of the terms and conditions they agree to when buying an album but the small print makes it clear that music bought through iTunes should not be passed on to others by the person originally downloading it.

Since Willis has apparently spent thousands of dollars downloading music on to 'many, many iPods', he is keen to be able to hand it on legitimately to daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallaluh.

While one approach is that he is reportedly considering is to ask his legal team to establish family trusts as the 'holders' of his downloaded music, another option is to support ongoing legal action in five US states to give downloaders more rights to do what they want with their music.

However, the legal actions face immense difficulties thanks to the enormous powers Apple established for itself at the start of the digital music age.

The technology giant can freeze the iTunes accounts of those it believes are passing on music to others and forbids the transfer of songs to MP3 players other than its own iPods.

Similar problems apply to the digital books millions download to electronic reading devices such as Amazon's Kindle.

"Lots of people will be surprised on learning all those tracks and books they have bought over the years don't actually belong to them. It's only natural you would want to pass them on to a loved one," the Daily Mail quoted Solicitor Chris Walton as saying.

"The law will catch up, but ideally Apple and the like will update their policies and work out the best solution for their customers," Walton added.