CNET Accused of Copyright Infringement for Distributing LimeWire

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CNET Accused of Copyright Infringement for Distributing LimeWire

CBS Interactive, the owner of CNET, is being sued for facilitating “massive copyright infringement” for distributing the LimeWire software, a file sharing service a federal judge ruled illegal last year.

A lawsuit brought by rappers and others accuses CBS of profiting from distributing 220 million copies of LimeWire on CNET’s download.com site since 2008, or 95 percent off all LimeWire downloads.

“The CBS defendants received massive amounts of revenue from P2P provders on a ‘pay per download’ basis and also from advertising revenues generated by advertisements placed on the download screen for P2P software,” (.pdf) according to the complaint, lodged in Los Angeles federal court late Tuesday.

The lawsuit, which maintains CBS was “well aware” of LimeWire’s infringement uses, comes as the Recording Industry Association of America’s damages trial against LimeWire gets under way in a New York federal court.
A New York federal jury is being empaneled to decide how much LimeWire and its owner should pay the record labels for wanton infringement committed on LimeWire’s service. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood ruled last year that LimeWire’s users commit a “substantial amount of copyright infringement,” and that the Lime Group — the company behind the application — “has not taken meaningful steps to mitigate infringement.”

The record labels claim LimeWire, owned by the Lime Group, owes more than $1 billion in damages. Judge Wood shuttered the service in October.

The case against CBS accuses CNET of offering “videos, articles and other media that instructed how to use P2P software to locate pirated copies of copyrighted works and remove electronic protections placed on digital music files.” A 2009 LimeWire review, the suit noted, described the service as a “post-Napster clone” and gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

CBS, according to the complaint, maintains a “business model to profit directly from the demand for infringing P2P clinets.”

Among others, the plaintiffs include Detron Bendross, of 2 Live Crew, Trisco Smith-Pearson of The Force MDs and Eric Jackson and De’Angelo Holmes, both of the Ying Yang Twins. Alki David, a digital media entrepreneur, is also a plaintiff. They all assert their copyrights were illegally distributed on LimeWire.
CBS said in a statement that the lawsuit is “riddled with inaccuracies, and we are confident that we will prevail.”

 

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NEW YORK--Lawyers representing the four largest music labels tried to convey a message in court here today: Lime Wire founder Mark Gorton was so determined to help people pirate songs that he disregarded copyright law, artists' rights, and even the Supreme Court.

And eventually, Gorton conceded.

The best that he could offer for an excuse was that he misread the law. "I was wrong," Gorton told the court. "I didn't think our behavior was inducing [copyright infringement]. I understand that a court has found otherwise."

In numerous exchanges with Glenn Pomerantz, the labels' lead attorney, Gorton acknowledged knowing that LimeWire was being used to swap songs without paying for them by a "large percentage" of users. Despite being aware of the piracy, Gorton said he refused to shut down the service.

The copyright case brought in 2006 against Lime Wire and Gorton by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)--the record companies' trade group--is in the final stages. A year ago, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood found Gorton liable for inducing mass copyright infringement. Last October, Wood ordered that Lime Wire's peer-to-peer service, LimeWire, which Gorton today acknowledged was used by millions of people to pirate perhaps billions of songs, be shut down.

It was the court that determined Gorton would pay but a jury is now tasked with deciding the amount, which can be anywhere between $7 million and $1.4 billion. Not only could a damages award mean a big payday for the labels, but it will also serve to make an example of Gorton.

With Gorton, 44, having already been found liable, the record labels are operating with a big advantage, sort of the courtroom equivalent of a penalty kick in soccer or free throws in basketball. There's no question of whether Gorton infringed the labels' copyrights. Lawyers for the record companies can now home in on just making it look like he acted with bad intentions. And in court today, Gorton's past comments and e-mails provided the labels with plenty of assistance.

Pomerantz showed a pie chart created by Lime Wire to show how Gorton and his managers classified users into four groups. "Hardcore pirates" made up 25 percent of the service's users. "Morally persuadable" users equaled another 25 percent. "Legally unaware" users were said to be 20 percent of LimeWire's users, and those that "sampled" music were 30 percent.
Lime Wire's managers reported to Gorton that of these groups, the company could expect to convince only 20 percent to pay for music, Pomerantz told the jury.​

 

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LimeWire on Thursday agreed to pay $105 million as part of its lawsuit settlement in what may be the last chapter in the company's history.

The payout comes a quick week after a trial to determine the amount that should be paid to music label owners such as Sony, Vivendi, and Warner. The former peer-to-peer company said only that it was glad to be rid of the lawsuit.

 

[LizBot]

Limewire is so 2002.