LimeWire Agrees to Pay Record Labels $105 Million to Settle Lawsuit
LimeWire Agrees to Pay Record Labels $105 Million to Settle Lawsuit
Posted 05/13/2011 at 6:32am
| by Paul Lilly
9
Comments
Print
Battered and beaten up in court, peer-to-peer file sharing service LimeWire has agreed to pay $105 million in damages to major record labels, the Recording Industry Association of America announced. The settlement ends a jury trial that began last week to determine the amount of damages LimeWire would owe, which could have ended up being 10 times the amount of the settlement, or more.
"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," RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol said in a statement. "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.
"The significant settlement underscores the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in the Grokster case -- designing and operating services to profit from the theft of the world’s greatest music comes with a stiff price. The resolution of this case is another milestone in the continuing evolution of online music to a legitimate marketplace that appropriately rewards creators. This hard fought victory is reason for celebration by the entire music community, its fans and the legal services that play by the rules."
LimeWire's legal battle has been a long and uphill one. In May 2010, LimeWire and its founder Mark Gorton were found guilty of copyright infringement, and in October, LimeWire received a federal injunction that effectively shut down the file sharing service.
More like this
9
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
whathuhitwasntme
May 13, 2011 at 9:13am
these fines and fees are based on the old school CD and Album distrobution methods. As we all know today, that does not work for digital media.
the itunes, and amazon's of the world have saved the music industry. They proved that if you charge a fair price for the music and movies, people won't pirate them. It's just easier to get them legally and avoid the spam and virii of the limewires and bearshares and piratebay's of the world
IMO, and YMMV, I think they should get no more than the actual current price on itunes for anything. The case where the woman was fined millions for 6 songs was the proof its not about the artist, its about the fat cat lawyers getting rich. 6 songs should have = 6 bucks, have a nice day, do you want cash or credit card?
US_Ranger
May 13, 2011 at 8:42am
This is NOT a win for anyone, legal users or not. The RIAA is an organization that needs to die and this will only boost their efforts to hold control over the industry for even longer. Maybe now they can get back to focusing on their lawsuits against old granny's and young kids for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
phaseone
May 13, 2011 at 3:17pm
Downloading anything copyrighted and that you do not own such as music, videos, books, apps and games is and always will be illegal. Doesn't matter whether we like the RIAA organization or not, its not like the artists are not making millions still. But people need to put this into perspective. When people do things illegally, its expected that activity be stopped and the law upheld. I do not necessarily agree with how the RIAA handles themselves when it comes to trying to put restrictions on things but the bottom line is I don't blame organizations like that I blame the people downloading illegally.
TRYER
July 22, 2011 at 12:37am
Why stop at music, videos, books, apps and games? How about that music you watch on youtube or that screenshot you use for your wallpaper, or using a quote and not paying respects to the author? Did you get permission to use them?
I am sure everyone is guilty of copyright in this world. Should everyone go to jail?
scottd34
May 13, 2011 at 7:47am
"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."
That is such a pile of garbage. The record labels kept on going fine despite these services. Maybe instead of suing they should focus on putting out good music, then maybe people will want to buy it.
The artists will probably not see a dime of the settlement money from this.
schmitty6633
May 13, 2011 at 8:29pm
More $$$ = Better Music?
Its odd how lesser known groups make better music than well know artists with tons of money like say Katy Perry :D
Joji
May 13, 2011 at 7:33am
Provided that even before Limewire was sued, music artists were still getting a fair amount of income from their albums and singles. I don't think $105 million would make much of an impact to them. I really don't know. :/
Steelwells
May 13, 2011 at 7:02am
.... I read the title and thought "Man, did THEY get off cheap!"
But it's $105 MILLION, not $105.
phaseone
May 13, 2011 at 7:02am
While I do not agree with the way that the RIAA handles the issues with file-sharing I have to say that this is a win for the majority of us who use peer-to-peer file sharing legally.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Original RickRoll Video Returns to YouTube After 24-Hour Copyright Hiatus http://t.co/MaH9Sxyy1 day 19 hours ago
- maximumpc: Corsair has decided not to go forward with its $78 million IPO, citing weak equity market conditions http://t.co/A5a4DAzj1 day 19 hours ago
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E3 days 16 hours ago
