Posted on 08/04/2006 6:26:04 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
(AP) LOS ANGELES -- A coalition of major recording companies sued the operators of the file-sharing program LimeWire for copyright infringement Friday, claiming the firm encourages users to trade music without permission.
New York-based Lime Group LLC, its subsidiaries who designed and distribute LimeWire, and the corporation's top executives, are named in the federal court lawsuit, which was filed in the Southern District of New York, the Recording Industry Association of America said in a statement.
Record labels owned by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Britain's EMI Music are behind the complaint, which seeks compensatory and punitive damages, including at least $150,000 for each instance in which a copyright song was distributed without permission.
The case is the first piracy lawsuit brought against a distributor of file-sharing software since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that technology companies could be sued for copyright infringement on the grounds that they encouraged customers to steal music and movies over the Internet.
In the complaint, the record companies contend LimeWire's operators are "actively facilitating, encouraging and enticing" computer users to steal music by failing to block access to copyright works and building a business model that allows them to profit directly from piracy.
"Defendants not only have known of the infringement, but have promoted and relied upon it to build their business," the complaint states.
Like similar programs, LimeWire allows computer users to make files on their PCs available to a multitude of other people all connected to each other, a method known as peer-to-peer file-sharing.
The original Napster software first popularized such swapping of files online before it was forced to shut down in 2001 after record companies sued.
In the LimeWire complaint, the record companies contend that LimeWire, which began operating in 2000, has since grown into the leading file-sharing software for stealing music as other Napster clones have shut down or gone legitimate in recent years.
A LimeWire spokeswoman, Katie Catillaz, declined comment Friday.
Last fall, LimeWire was among several file-sharing services to receive letters from the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major record labels, warning them to shut down or face litigation.
The RIAA said LimeWire's operators did not show sufficient interest in developing a licensed business model or agree to shut down.
"While other services have come productively to the table, LimeWire has sat back and continued to reap profits on the backs of the music community," the trade group said. "That is unfortunate and has left us no choice but to file a lawsuit to protect the rights and livelihoods of artists, songwriters and record label employees, as well as those companies building legitimate businesses based on music."
Much of today's music ain't even worth stealing anymore.....
ed2k://|file|Limewire%20Lime%20Wire%20Pro%20v.4.10.0.1%20Cracked%20with%20Java%20Runtime%20Environment.zip|19055468|be160f0db710c6e0f1ca0f13b15dfd67|/
Get’n so you can’t steal music anyware anymore!!!!!! What is this world coming to?
Aw man, you mean pimply teenagers are going to actually have to pay money to listen to whining, talentless bimbos?
I figure the more skin and the sleazier the cover of the CD, the worse the music has to be.
You mean you can use LimeWire to steal music????
I just use it to poke around in others' computers for Word/Excel files marked "Confidential" and "Private".
You'd be amazed at what people leave in their shared directories.
Gangsta rappers crying about their music getting ripped-off. I thought they believed that criminal acts were OK?
The chain from Napster onward will follow that demand.
The music industry has always been a little too greedy and that, along with increasingly bad product has caused this whole scenario.
Great! Since all my PC tunes have been downloaded via Limewire should I just burn the CD's and get out fast?
No! Not Limewire! I love that site. That's where I steal all my music.
That's why I steal music from CDs that I've already purchased. It is just easier to download them off Limewire onto a file and burn a compilation than it is to drag each one of my CDs out to copy individual songs.
Is it stealing if I download a song from Limewire that can be found on a CD I paid for?
Leave a bunch of crummy old stuff like Herman's Hermits and The Monkeys (maybe even Buck Owens' Greatest Hits") in your shared folder and get all the good stuff out as soon as it finishes downloading. Your shared folder while online, is measured by quantity...not by quality.
I like Limewire because I like to download old-time radio shows and music from the 40's and 50's where copyright is no longer an issue.
Another good excuse for the "Music Police". Tell them that you've recorded all your music off the air from FM radio.
The FM station has already paid the royalties for you to hear it, and re-hear it as often as desired....like taping a TV show. As long as you don't charge money, or make money from it, it's yours to keep.
Remember the golden rule: cop didn't see it, you didn't do it.
Why not just have CD Ripping parties where everyone brings their CD collections and their USB hard drives and you rip, copy, repeat.
I mean, hypothetically speaking...
The RIAA grew to accept the copying analog style because ti was cumbersome and imperfect.
They could live with that fair use concept.
Now they are into selling format only rights.
The RIAA counts on ignorance.
That's pretty much what me and my friends used to do with LPs and blank cassette tapes.
I dunno. I just never really felt like an arch-criminal.
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
The Dixie Chix WISH people wanted to steal their music...
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