Newman, Waits Sue Web Site

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/26/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Songwriters Randy Newman, Tom Waits and members of the rock band Heart filed a $40.5 million copyright infringement lawsuit on Monday in L.A.'s U.S. District Court against San Diego-based Internet music site MP3.com, reports the Associated Press. The musicians claim that the Web site illegally gives listeners access to their songs (Newman's "Short People," Waits's "Downtown Train," among others) over the My.Mp3.com service and were illegally copied for these purposes. A spokesman for MP3.com told AP on Tuesday that the company has not been served with the lawsuit and, therefore, couldn't comment.