Gainesville, Fla. – Apple (NASD: AAPL) has pulled online music service
Grooveshark’s iPhone application from its App Store, citing a copyright
complaint from Universal Music U.K. "Earlier this afternoon, Apple sent us
a letter notifying us that, due to a complaint they received from Universal
Music Group UK, Grooveshark for iPhone has been, strangely, pulled from the App
Store," the company wrote in a post on its blog.
"This comes as an
absolute surprise to us, and we are not sleeping until we figure out exactly
how to fix this — and get Grooveshark for iPhone back in the App Store."
Universal
Music Group sued Grooveshark in January, alleging the company was offering
pre-1972 Universal recordings for free, and using the lure of free access to
drive traffic and ad revenues.
Billboard notes that the two issues are likely
related.
The company was previously sued by EMI, and eventually reached a
settlement and licensed the major label’s tracks for its service — but has not reached deals to date with any of the other majors.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2ezjfk2
(Grooveshark blog)
http://tinyurl.com/29evn92
(Billboard)
http://tinyurl.com/y9l4za7
(DMW previous coverage)
Hey universal music group I was just about to download the grooveshark app on my iPod and found out the due to your complaint to apple they have pulled the app from the app store and needless to say I’m pissed. You guys at UMG need to get ur heads out of ur asses. Who gives a shit about pre 1972 recordings. Rock on grooveshark and keep fighting the good fight.