Grooveshark Lost Copyright Infringement Case to Majors

Written By Tamera H. Bennett

A Manhattan District Court found online music service Grooveshark liable for copyright infringement.

The lawsuit filed by the UMG family of record labels in 2011 is not over yet as damages must be determined.  The clincher in this case was the fact that Grooveshark directed its officers and employees to upload unlicensed tracks.  Sounds very similar to the situation in Mp3 Tunes.

With over 5000 tracks uploaded by employees, Grooveshark could not claim a "safe harbor" under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as that provision would only protect Grooveshark if it had no knowledge of the uploads.  The actions of the employees was willful and with knowledge.

We will continue to watch the pending state court litigation over Pre-72 copyrights and pending federal court cases.

Here's the Court's opinion in UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Escape Media Group, Inc., 11 Civ. 8407, SDNY, Sept. 29, 2014.

 

Tamera H. Bennett

Tamera H. Bennett is a wife, mom, lawyer, mediator, blogger, podcaster, and legal writer. For two decades she’s helped clients protect what they create by practicing trademark, copyright and entertainment law in Texas and Tennessee.

Tamera has co-hosted more than 85 episodes of the Entertainment Law Update Podcast since 2009. And, she’s been honored to write for BILLBOARD magazine and the TEXAS LAWYER.

In the summer of 2015, Tamera backpacked 100 miles over 10 days with her son's Boy Scout Troop. Tamera walked her first half-marathon in 2012 and walked the Cowtown Half Marathon in February 2016 and February 2017 with a PR each time. You can visit Tamera’s blog at createprotect.com and follow her on Twitter @tamerabennett.

http://www.tbennettlaw.com
Previous

Converse Sues Ed Hardy for Trademark Infringement
Next

GRAMMY Music In the Metroplex - Dallas Music Business Networking