The majority of you reading this have probably ripped audio from a song on YouTube. It’s a very common form of piracy, but it looks like it may be coming to an end.

Some of the biggest record labels in the world are taking aim at YouTube-mp3.org, a site that allows users to rip the audio from YouTube videos.

The website is pretty much the go-to for anyone trying to pinch a track without paying for it, but it looks as though it may have run its course, with Universal, Warner Bros, Sony and other big record labels filing a copyright suit on Monday that states the following:

“Stream ripping has become a major threat to the music industry, functioning as an unlawful substitute for the purchase of recorded music and the purchase of subscriptions to authorized streaming services.”

YouTube-mp3.org is allegedly run by a German fellow named Philip Matesanz, who is accused of being the “chief offender, accounting for upwards of 40% of all unlawful stream ripping that takes place in the world”. Holy sh*t!

For those who have never used YTMP3, it requires a very simple process in order to download a song’s mp3 file. The plaintiffs claim “tens, or even hundreds, of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream ripping services each month.” As expected, they’re pretty devo about it all.

As reported by Billboard, the lawsuit asserts a “straight copyright infringement claim as well as claims for contributory copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement and inducement of copyright infringement. The complaint speaks of how Matesanz’ company has been promoting its service.”

You can read the full complaint right here. Do you think this spells the end of audio ripping?