Earlier this year, Grooveshark and parent company Escape Media Group (“Escape”) filed a subpoena in Los Angeles Superior Court against Digital Music News (“DMN”).  The subpoena compelled the disclosure of an anonymous commenter’s identity.  This petition could have “chilling effects” on the rights and obligations of Internet bloggers.  An unfavorable ruling on DMN’s appeal would impose [...]

  Let’s start by taking a look at Grooveshark. Universal Music Group (UMG) filed a complaint in Manhattan District Court on November 18, 2011 against Escape Media and five of its executives alleging that Grooveshark engaged in a plethora of infringing conduct. According to the complaint, “Escape publically touts the fact that it has a [...]

On January 18, 2012 in Golan v. Holder the Supreme Court upheld amendments made to the “Copyright in Restored Works” section of the U.S. Code in response to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act § 514 as per the U.S. membership in the Berne Convention. Article 18 of Berne requires countries to protect the works of other member [...]

  Double, Double, Newt’s In Trouble. With the Republican primaries approaching an end, I am sure a few candidates and their advisors have been thinking of ways to motivate voters. The power of music has long been recognized to move people and stir emotions. So if Orpheus could convince Hades to free his beloved Eurydice [...]

  With the recent shutdown of Megaupload and the arrest of Kim “Dotcom” Schmitz (founder of Megaupload and formerly the number one ranked Call of Duty player) for massive amounts of alleged copyright infringement, other legal news relating to Megaupload might be overlooked. Well, have no fear, here is some information about the lawsuit filed [...]

Welcome to ReDigi: “The World’s First Online Marketplace For Used Digital Music.” Yes, you read that sentence correctly. Launched in beta version last October, ReDigi markets itself as a “recycled music market place.” In reality, it’s an online digital music store that allows users to buy/sell used digital music files.

For those who don’t know, the simplest way to describe Baidu in a soundbite is “the Google of China.”  Although somewhat of a misnomer (afterall Google does operate in China), it is a fitting place to begin. Baidu is free music download service in China. The name for Baidu is inspired by a poem written more [...]

Wire-tapping, increased sentencing for copyright and trademark infringement, and increased sentencing for repeat IP infringers are among the legislative recommendations made by the Obama Administration in its latest white paper publication, Administration’s White Paper on Intellectual Property Enforcement Legislative Recommendations. The March 2011 publication is a follow-up to its June 2010 Joint Strategic Plan on [...]

  Whether you agree or disagree with the district court’s holding in Viacom v. YouTube, everyone acknowledges that the decision has far reaching implications for copyright owners, internet service providers, and the music industry as a whole. YouTube has developed into perhaps the easiest and fastest way to access copyrighted music content for free while [...]

Two recent cases have called into question whether the fees assessed for copyright infringement damages are excessive. In Harper v. Maverick, sixteen-year-old Whitney Harper was found guilty of copyright infringement after downloading 37 audio files from peer-to-peer service Kazaa. Harper claimed that she did not know her conduct was illegal and therefore, that she was [...]