 Limewire is completely lost at the hands of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) last week, when they agreed to a nine-digit payout to major record labels.
The now-defunct peer-to-peer client agreed, last week, to pay $105M to the major record labels as part of a settlement between both parties -- the labels being represented by the copyright watchdog. They paid for 9,715 pirated tracks.
However, some say they got away easy -- a jury could've awarded labels as much as $1.4 billion.
Due to an interpretation of the Copyright Act that would count each download of a song as an infringement, the RIAA had initially wanted Limewire to pay $75 trillion. Obviously, that wouldn't happen though, and even the court called the amount "absurd," so it seems they settled for $105 million instead.
The settlement follows a similar $115 million dollar settlement against Kazaa in 2006.
In a post at the Huffington Post, some within the music industry question whether its even worth going after some of these companies.
Computer World quotes Ray Beckerman, a New York attorney who has defended individuals against RIAA lawsuits, who said he doesn't see a great victory for the music industry against LimeWire.
"They got LimeWire shut down, and got some money...But what would be interesting to see is: how much of the $105 million that it will get from LimeWire was eaten up by legal fees?" he asked.
The damages, including personal liability money from Limewire founder Mark Gorton, is for pirated, stolen media owned by several major record labels.
"We are pleased to have reached a large monetary settlement following the court's finding that both Limewire and its founder Mark Gorton are personally liable for copyright infringement," RIAA chairman Mitch Bainwol said in a statement. "As the court heard during the last two weeks, Limewire wreaked enormous damage on the music community, helping contribute to thousands of lost jobs and fewer opportunities for aspiring artists.
"The significant settlement underscores the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in the Grokster case -- designing and operating services to profit from the theft of the world's greatest music comes with a stiff price," he continued. "The resolution of this case is another milestone in the continuing evolution of online music to a legitimate marketplace that appropriately rewards creators. This hard fought victory is reason for celebration by the entire music community, its fans and the legal services that play by the rules."
As of press time, how the settlement will be split was unknown. In past cases, the RIAA has split up big awards with the four member labels. What about the artists you say? That's still unclear.
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