RIAA’s Absurd Requests In LimeWire Case Shock Even Judge

May 28, 2012 by · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Entertainment Industry, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Legal P2P News & Issues 

In the famous lawsuit that involves LimeWire and the music industry, the latter is claiming that the filesharing service owes trillions of dollars in damages for facilitating the distribution of 11.000 copyrighted songs. The request is simply “absurd”, a federal judge ruled.

Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected RIAA’s claims that LimeWire should pay up to $150.000 for each download of roughly 11.000 songs.

The plaintiffs’ viewpoint on statutory damages “offends the canon that we should avoid endorsing statutory interpretations that would lead to absurd results,” Judge Wood wrote in a 14-page ruling.

“If Plaintiffs were able to pursue a statutory damage theory based on the number of direct infringers per work, Defendants’ damages could reach into the trillions.”

Last October Judge Wood ordered LimeWire to cease and desist all file-sharing activities, giving the green to RIAA’s claims that the service is enabling and inducing massive copyright infringement.

The industry filed the lawsuit on behalf of several music labels approximately four years ago, saying that they lost millions of dollars due to LimeWire’s services. After the RIAA obtained an important victory against LimeWire, both argued on how much money should be paid.

In their defense the RIAA claimed that LimeWire enabled potentially thousands if not millions of people to download one or more of the 11.000 copyrighted songs; as such, they’re entitled to statutory damages for every single illegal download.

In her ruling Wood said that RIAA’s demands would amount to more money than the entire music industry has made since Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877,” which is absurd. However, the court will allow RIAA to establish one statutory award for each infringed song.

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Merlin’s Victory Over LimeWire: A $10 Million Worth Settlement

March 2, 2012 by · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Legal P2P News & Issues 

While LimeWire was put out of business two years ago after the US courts ruled that they are liable for copyright infringement, the company is still good to pay

Merlin is indeed in the magic biz – pulling loads of cash out of legal settlements – Limewire’s financial nightmare is not over yet.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA, as many have come to know and hate), representing the major music labels, was only a part of LimeWire’s nemesis, completed only by the independent record labels who now, thanks to Merlin (the music rights agency fighting for independent record labels, such as Adele and Arctic Monkeys), won an important battle against the defunct service.

The settlement, thought to be worth between $5m and $10m, is the biggest victory obtained by independent artists against piracy. Not an impressive figure if we recall that the RIAA obtained no less than $105m from LimeWire, but a victory nonetheless. Details of the settlement were not made public.

“With its members’ market share in the US alone reported at around 10%, Merlin represents by far the largest and most compelling basket of global independent rights in the world. For services wishing to launch with the most complete musical offering for their consumers, Merlin represents enormous value in streamlining the licensing of this repertoire, which could otherwise involve hundreds of individual negotiations. This settlement is testament to both Merlin’s diligence in protecting its members’ rights and the value of its member labels’ repertoire,” said Merlin after the settlement.

Prior to this victory, Merlin also obtained a $3.6m deal against US’ XM Satellite Radio, whose DJs include Howard Stern.

“It is clearly the most significant [deal Merlin has struck] representing as it does the successful conclusion of a high profile, large scale, global copyright infringement claim on an equal footing with the major labels,” said Charlie Lexton, head of business affairs and general counsel at Merlin.

“An unprecedented moment for independents.”

Also, Merlin’s chief executive Charles Caldas added:

“The exclusion of independents from past major settlements such as Kazaa was a key factor in the formation of Merlin, and I am proud to say that this time, via the actions of Merlin, our members’ rights have been properly protected.”

“It is deeply satisfying to announce this settlement today. The exclusion of independents from past major settlements such as Kazaa was a key factor in the formation of Merlin, and I am proud to say that this time, via the actions of Merlin, our members’ rights have been properly protected. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that the labels we represent are never again left out in the cold,” Caldas told CMU.

LimeWire was founded in 2000 and, alongside Grokster, Kazaa, eDonkey and Napster, represent(ed) an important piece in the file-sharing history.

As for Merlin’s plans, Caldas said that their main purpose is to facilitate legitimate business models, and to help independent artists increase their revenues. During the years, Merlin closed approximately 15 deals with services such as Spotify, Muve and Google Music.

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Indie Labels Sue Limewire

July 19, 2011 by · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Legal P2P News & Issues 

Just when you thought Limewire is finally done with legal issues since it has reached a settlement with record labels, trouble finds the file-sharing service again.

The late Limewire has recently been sued by a group of indie labels for failing to honor a copyright infrigement settlement.

Merlin, representing labels such as Rough Trade and Epitaph and artists like Arcade Fire and Tom Waits, filed a lawsuit against LimeWire just last week, claiming that Limewire didn’t come through with the $105 million agreement it reached with the major U.S. music labels.

“Merlin confirms it has filed a breach of contract claim against Lime Wire in the US District Court … for damages believed to be in excess of $5m,” the company said in a statement. “The claim relates to the breach of an agreement to settle claims of infringement of Merlin members’ copyrights on the Lime Wire peer to peer service.”

A cease and desist order has been issued by Merlin to Limewire as early as September 2008; Merlin agreed not to sue since Limewire said that if it reached a deal with the major labels – Universal, Sony, Warner and Emi – it would offer Merlin the same deal.

This deal with the major labels came down in May 2010. Next month Limewire was sued again by NMPA (National Music Publishers’ Association), this resulting with the October shutdown of Limewire’s service.

Early 2011 marked the complete shutdown of Limewire.

Regardless of their deal, Merlin said: “the Lime Entities did not offer to Merlin and its label members a settlement on the same material terms (adjusted to account for relative market share) as the settlement with the major labels. In fact, the Lime Entities did not make an offer to Merlin at all.”

Now Merlin wants damages of at least $5 million and costs, according to court filings.
Ever since Limewire was shutdown, the percentage of U.S. Internet users using p2p services dropped about 7% from 2007, according to data from NPD Group.

May came with a new lawsuit against CBS Interactive and CNET for facilitating massive copyright infringement by offering Limewire for download.

This suit was filed by a coalition of artists led by the Founder of FilmOn.com.

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Limewire’s Settlement: $105m Paid to Record Labels

May 16, 2011 by · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Legal P2P News & Issues 

The 5 years long battle against 13 record companies puts $105m (£64m) hole into Limewire’s budget.

Peace has been finally restored between Limewire and the record companies – including labels owned by the four major groups. Limewire.com closed in October 2010 after the court decided that the portal is to blame for facilitating illegal file-sharing. The record companies initially asked for $1 billion in damage.

Mark Gorton – the former Wall Street trader behind LimeWire, agreed to pay off music giants (Universal, Warner, Sony included), with his lawyers saying that he was “pleased that this case has concluded”.

Limewire started back in 2000 and it became the last remaining p2p service after Grokster, Kazaa, eDonkey and Napster were closed.

The music companies collected $50 million in 2005 from Grokster and $115 million from Kazaa in 2006; Limewire is next in line to contribute with $105 million.

Edgar Bronfman (chief executive of Warner Music – home to Bruno Mars and Plan B), , said on Wednesday (during trial) that he was troubled by the thought that LimeWire did not shut down or convert to a “legal service” after the Grokster ruling.

“It’s devastating, frankly,” he said.

“We are pleased to have reached a large monetary settlement following the court’s finding that both LimeWire and its founder Mark Gorton personally liable for copyright infringement,” said Mitch Bainwol, the chief executive of US music trade body the RIAA. “As the court heard during the last two weeks, LimeWire wreaked enormous damage on the music community, helping contribute to thousands of lost jobs and fewer opportunities for aspiring artists.”

Bainwol said that the resolution marked “another milestone” in the battle against illegal downloading. According to RIAA’s documentation, US recorded music sales dropped to $7.7 billion in 2009 from $14.5 billion in 1999. The rise to prominence of p2p networks is stigmatized as the primary factor for this decline by the RIAA.

Napster, who collapsed in 2002 after long legal battles, gathered more than 100 million users at the beginning of the decade.

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Mismanagement and Not File-sharing is Killing Labels, Says Limewire

May 13, 2011 by · Comments Off
Filed under: Announcements & Events, Legal P2P News & Issues 

The heir and CEO of Warner Music Group, Edgar Bronfman Jr. received no less than $17 million in compensation for 2008 for copyright infringement. The battle of the century, Limewire vs. the music industry, had two sides of the story, one claiming that Limewire is not to blame the declining sales or the loss jobs, the other trying to prove the opposite.

In 2006 the Recording Industry Association of America started a war against LimeWire and won, thanks to U.S. district judge Kimba Woods who decided that the company is liable for willful copyright infringement. If found guilty by the jury a fine of up to $1.4 billion can be applied. In their struggle to claim such a prize, the RIAA tried to convince the federal court that Gorton and his company cost the music industry billions in revenues as well as thousands of jobs.

Last week marks the start of the damages trial against Gorton. RIAA’s lawyers presented Gorton as a man who’s willingly breaking the law by keeping a blacklisted website (since 2005) running.

Two days ago, the major record companies were represented by Bronfman. By sitting in the chair of the Warner Music company in 2004, one of his first actions was to cut the label’s artists roster by 40%, claiming that it was merely a reaction to the label’s economy back then. Questioned by the RIAA lawyers, Bronfman also added that Limewire’s actions scared possible investors and by doing so damaging the delicate balance of the music industry.

All this despite the numbers; the jury learned that Bronfman and his investment group were able to recoup their original investment just months after the company was acquired for $2.6 billion. Last week, Bronfman agreed to sell Warner Music (a public company) for $3.3 billion in cash, or $8.25 a share, to Access Industries.

According to Bronfman the Warner Music’s value had decreased in the past years. He added that in 2006 a “misterious” bidder (rumors saying that it was EMI Music) has offered $31 per share that year.

Moreover, Baio brought documents to prove that Warner Music filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to them, Bronfman made $1 million in base salary during the past five years while earning $6 million in bonus money in most of those years (six times his salary). In 2008, the year Bronfman banked $17 million in total compensation, the company saw layoffs.

Earlier in the hearing, Bronfman had mourned the layoffs but also pointed his finger on illegal file-sharing. However, this is not entirely true as the music industry also played its part in the economic decline.

“We all have to recognize as an industry that the CD is a tired format,” Bronfman said, according to documents Baio produced.

Baio said that the labels are suffering now because they were too slow to react to the Internet and to online file-sharing. He supported his claim by producing a transcript of a Bronfman speech.

“We used to fool ourselves,” Bronfman said in 2007. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection, and file-sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find, and as a result, of course, consumers won.”

Judge Kimba Woods adjourned the hearing early; Both Gorton and Bronfman are expected to return to the witness stand, possibly this week.

(via CNET)

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