Artists Likely Won't Get a Cut of the RIAA-LimeWire Settlement
The major labels may have won their case against LimeWire, but recording artists may not receive any of the settlement.... read more
Found in: Industry, NewsMajor Labels Settle Suit with LimeWire
After a five-year legal battle over music piracy, major record companies settled a copyright infringement lawsuit against LimeWire, the peer-to-peer file-sharing network, for $105 million.... read more
Found in: Industry, NewsLimeWire Wants Subpoenas for Recording Industry Third Parties
LimeWire, the popular peer-to-peer-file-sharing service that allows people to freely transfer music, TV shows, videos, etc., is looking for court-ordered subpoenas of third parties that deal with the recording industry.... read more
Found in: Games, NewsRIAA Spends $58M Pursuing Music Pirates, Gets 2% Back
The fight against piracy and copyright infringement has been, shall we say, less than profitable for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)—in this instance, anyway. According to tax forms from 2006, 2007 and 2008 that have been leaked to the internet (and been commented on by New York City business lawyer Ray Beckerman), the RIAA spent $58,258,394 on legal fees in those three years. It recovered $1,362,572, for a 2.3 percent return rate, according to Beta News. We’re not math majors, but that’s bad, right?... read more
Found in: Industry, NewsU.S. Government Takes Down Nine Pirating Sites
The federal government has launched the cannons of copyright crackdown on a number of pirating websites in the first move of the recently-announced Plan to Combat Intellectual Property Theft.... read more
Found in: Industry, NewsLimeWire Liable for Copyright Infringement
The legal battle between the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and file-sharing software provider LimeWire has finally come to an end. The verdict? LimeWire is being charged with copyright infringement and may be removed from the Internet if record labels choose to file an injunction, according to The Guardian.... read more
Found in: Industry, NewsU.K. Proposes to Shut Off Internet for Illegal Downloaders
U.K. newspaper The Guardian reported Tuesday that this British government is considering harsher laws to crack down on illegal filesharers. Penalties reportedly on the table could require ISP's to ban access to certain download sites, slow broadband connections and even cut off internet access to repeat offenders.... read more
Found in: Culture, NewsMinnesota Court Awards RIAA $1.92M for Theft of 24 Songs
Court is adjourned in the high-profile RIAA case against Jammie Thomas-Rasset for the download of two-dozen songs: a Minnesota jury awarded the Recording Industry Association of America $1.92 million in their suit against Rasset for sharing 24 songs on the Kazaa P2P network. Rasset is ordered to pay the fine to four major labels for damage compensation.... read more
Found in: Culture, NewsMuxtape goes offline during fight with RIAA
An unspecified RIAA-related issue has caused playlist-streaming website Muxtape to go offline—temporarily. Coming just after web radio site Pandora announced it may shut down permanently because of high artist royalty fees, this Muxtape vs. the Recording Industry Association of America development is raising even more questions about the future of webcasting. ... read more
Found in: NewsU.K. talking about taxing music downloaders
It's nice that every once in a while download news comes from a pragmatic, rather than disciplinary, realm. In the last few years, the tide of of industry crackdown on media piracy has only risen—the closing of peer-to-peer program Napster, the onset of RIAA lawsuits and the seizure of bit-torrents site OiNK but a few of the symptoms. ... read more
Found in: Music, News