New York – Major record label Universal Music Group has sued
music download service Grooveshark, alleging that the site is offering pre-1972
Universal recordings for free, Courthouse News Service reported.
The suit seeks
an injunction, and punitive damages for unfair competition and copyright
infringement from Grooveshark parent company Escape Media Group.
Universal alleges that Grooveshark "uses the lure of free access" to its tracks
to drive traffic and advertising revenue.
Grooveshark was also sued by major
label EMI for copyright infringement in June 2009, but in October EMI dropped
its suit and instead licensed its recording and publishing catalogs to the
site.
Related Links:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/01/08/23474.htm
http://snipurl.com/u1rfh
(Hypebot)
http://snipurl.com/u1rix
(DMW previous coverage)
Things are not going well for Universal Music Group’s in its lawsuit against video-sharing site Veoh. First, the Los Angeles judge, A. Howard Matz, ruled last month that the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act do apply to the case.