Organisations representing record companies in the US and UK took legal action today against Youtube-mp3.org, the world’s largest site dedicated to offering "stream ripped" music. According to the IFPI and RIAA, the site generated millions of dollars without paying any remuneration to artists and rights holders. The activities also breach YouTube’s Terms of Service.

Stream ripping is the process of 'ripping' or creating a downloadable file from content that is available to stream online. It is often done with music videos, to create copies of tracks that can be downloaded and listened to offline or on other devices.

IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore said: "This is a coordinated action to protect the rights of artists and labels from the blatant infringements of YouTube-mp3, the world’s single-largest 'stream ripping' site.

"Music companies and digital services today offer fans more options than ever before to listen to music legally, when and where they want to do so – over hundreds of services with scores of millions of tracks – all while compensating artists and labels. Stream ripping sites should not be allowed jeopardise this."

Cary Sherman, the Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said: "This site is raking in millions on the backs of artists, songwriters and labels. We are doing our part, but everyone in the music ecosystem who says they believe that artists should be compensated for their work has a role to play. It should not be so easy to engage in this activity in the first place, and no stream ripping site should appear at the top of any search result or app chart."

Stream ripping is the fastest growing form of music piracy globally and has now replaced other forms of downloading as the most prevalent form of online music piracy. Research published earlier this month by IFPI and Ipsos found that stream ripping sites are operating on a massive scale, with 49 per cent of all 16-24 year olds engaged in the activity, according to Ipsos.

YouTube-mp3.org is the largest stream-ripping site with more than 60 million unique users per month. Based in Germany, the site has a global user base and provides a simple way of creating an audio file from a YouTube video.