Thirteen major record labels have announced they want to freeze all of LimeWire’s assets, at the same time accusing the founder of the service of trying to evade millions, and possibly billions in damages over copyright infringement.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood found LimeWire guilty of assisting pirates in downloading unauthorized music and movies, and said that founder Mark Gorton personally “directed and benefited from many of the activities” involved.
Lawyers for the labels filed papers this week accusing Gorton of moving 90 percent of LimeWire’s ownership stake to a new entity that he hopes will be shielded from any damages in the lawsuit.
Reads the filing: Gorton and LimeWire “have engaged in a series of fraudulent actions to frustrate a legal judgment in this case…An asset freeze is required in order to ensure that plaintiffs recover at least some of the monetary compensation they are entitled to.”
Despite Wood’s ruling last month, the labels said a quick search of LimeWire showed every recording in Billboard’s Top 40, Top 40 Country, Top 40 Rock and Top 40 Latin Pop charts were still readily available.
Says LimeWire in response: “We will continue to stay focused on the development of our new music service and ensure that the company continues business as usual.”
Result for: plaintiffs
The Hollywood Reporter has reported today that producers of the recent Best Picture winning film “The Hurt Locker” are preparing to sue thousands of alleged pirates, and that the case could be filed as soon as this week.
The U.S. Copyright Group, which has sued tens of thousands of alleged torrent users this year, has teamed up with Voltage Pictures, the team behind the movie, and the filing is said to include “tens of thousands (of pirates), if not more.”
The movie was leaked to the Internet, in full DVD quality, about 6 months before its nationwide release in the U.S. Despite winning Best Picture, the film only grossed $17 million USD.
When filed, the plaintiffs must subpoena ISP records, and lawyers for the U.S Copyright Group say 75 percent of ISPs asked have cooperated in doing so.
Back in April, the Group sued 50,000 users, and says that over 40 percent have already settled with no cases going to court.
Result for: plaintiffs
Apple has won their appeal in a class-action lawsuit that was aiming to hold the company responsible for possible hearing loss caused by iPods.
The appeals court said that the plaintiffs failed to show that iPod use posed “unreasonable risk of noise-induced hearing loss.”
Apple has sold over 220 million iPods since 2001, and each unit comes with a warning telling users to listen to their music and movies at “safe” volume levels.
“The plaintiffs do not allege the iPods failed to do anything they were designed to do nor do they allege that they, or any others, have suffered or are substantially certain to suffer inevitable hearing loss or other injury from iPod use,” Senior Judge David Thompson added. “At most, the plaintiffs plead a potential risk of hearing loss not to themselves, but to other unidentified iPod users,” he concluded.
