Copyright court backing for Amazon and Google's 'cloud music' services

Apple's new cloud music service iCloud, which is not but available in Britain, works in a similar way to save disk space, nevertheless thanks to the firm's clout as the largest digital music retailer, it is allowed to offer "master copies" of songs that differ from the versions on users' computers. For instance, Apple's copy may be higher quality.

But during the judgement is maybe irrelevant to Apple given its agreements with record labels, it could be good news for Amazon and Google who lack similar deals, according to industry observers. Their cloud music services currently require every user to upload every song they want to access online, even if they have specifically the same file as many others.