LimeWire Settles with Record Companies for Only $105 Million

Greg Tito

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Sep 29, 2005
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LimeWire Settles with Record Companies for Only $105 Million



The settlement is a far cry from the $75 trillion that record companies demanded for the "enormous damage" the peer-to-peer network wreaked on their profits.

First there was Napster back in the early Oughts which earned the ire of everyone from David Geffen to Lars Ulrich for allowing users to "share" mp3s with each other, effectively stealing copyrighted material. After Napster fell apart, a few copycat networks emerged, the largest of which was LimeWire run by New York banker Mark Gorton. But after years of people lifting music and movies for free using his service, a U.S. District court ordered Gorton to shut down LimeWire's servers in October 2010 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/104795-Judge-Pulls-the-Plug-on-LimeWire] claiming that the service "intentionally encourages" copyright infringement. At one point, the Recording Industry Association of America said that Gorton was personally responsible for over $75 trillion in damages, but a jury in New York met over the last two weeks to determine how much Gorton was required to pay. Yesterday, the RIAA and Gorton settled to pay a measly $105 million to the four largest record companies, much less than the $1.4 billion that the court could legally impose.

Still, the recording industry is just happy LimeWire is no longer letting people steal music. "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," said Mitch Bainwol, chairman of the RIAA. "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."

Gorton's lawyer tried to save face by calling the settlement a victory. "In the recent past, the plaintiffs have pressed for a $75 trillion verdict," he said. "The Court labeled that claim 'absurd.' Plaintiffs then claimed that they suffered $40 to $50 billion of damages and that LimeWire was responsible for it all. At other times they have claimed that the amount of damages exceeded $1.4 billion."

The $105 million, although quite a lot money, is not very much for Gorton to pay because, in addition to being the sole owner of LimeWire, he also runs a hedge fund and a medical software company. The court noted that he owns a personal IRA account worth $100 million as well as a $4 million Manhattan apartment building. Paying the record companies is no skin off his nose.

Something tells me the settlement money isn't going to starving recording artists, either. So I'm not sure what good this settlement will do for either side of the argument for "freely distributed" copyrighted material.

Then again, I'm happy to buy my $5 mp3 albums off of Amazon so perhaps the record companies and consumers have reached a happy equilibrium.

Source: CNET [http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20062418-261.html#ixzz1MGFc8iFB]



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ThatOneJewYouNo

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Sep 22, 2009
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They give Limewire a bunch of crap for infringement, and yet the torrenting still goes on...

Oh well. No skin off my nose either. Good for the record companies to get what they wanted.
 

BabyRaptor

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Dec 17, 2010
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According to Torrent Freak, none of the money is going to the artists. It's all going to fund "future anti-piracy efforts." That's a load of bull, IMO...Supposedly they were suing LimeWire to defend the artists.

Don't support this mess at all. I'd rather LimeWire have been left alone than this.
 

Neverhoodian

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Apr 2, 2008
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HankMan said:
Well THAT ended on a sour note.
Here you are, my good man. You've earned it.
It seems Gorton dodged a bullet there. It could have been a hell of a lot worse for him. Still, the primary goal of the RIAA was met by shutting Limewire down.

Another ineffective border skirmish in the war on music.
 

freaper

snuggere mongool
Apr 3, 2010
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Can someone explain me how companies can calculate the money they didn't receive? I doubt half of the people that downloaded a specific song would've bought it if it wasn't available for download somewhere for free.
 

McMullen

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Mar 9, 2010
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Trillions? Bullshit. But we've known the amounts these organizations are suing for have been bullshit for over a decade. And it's all one way. Sony and other users of DRM never get sued for $10,000 per track that customers buy and then are blocked from using. Microsoft never got sued for $200,000 for every person who lost $200+ to a faulty xbox 360. If these companies are going to financially ruin the individuals who screw them, I say we should be allowed to financially ruin them right back when they screw us.
 

Snotnarok

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Nov 17, 2008
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I love the way these people overexaggerate their losses so badly.

However what I don't love is Lime Wire, 90% of the computers I fix, have that god awful program and they're stuck with viruses galore.
 

theultimateend

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Nov 1, 2007
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Irridium said:
Record companies demanded $75 trillion in damages?

Are they fucking high?
Yes. Quite a few companies are in a delusion.

The profits of the old media age are gone. But they are determined to kill the modern market instead of learning to change with it.

I'm glad the candle industry didn't work this hard to murder the light bulb.

freaper said:
Can someone explain me how companies can calculate the money they didn't receive? I doubt half of the people that downloaded a specific song would've bought it if it wasn't available for download somewhere for free.
Not only is there no evidence to support their claims they also can't prove that piracy isn't helping sales by provided a new cheap advertising tool for them.

There are plenty of anecdotes and intuitions about the whole thing but the entire battle has been nothing more than a digital version of the war on drugs. Convincing the world that something super bad is happening when it isn't.
 

FalloutJack

Bah weep grah nah neep ninny bom
Nov 20, 2008
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Slap on the wrist, drop in the bucket. My hat's off to you, mate. Way to not go bankrupt doing what you like with the internet. Trillions was way too much anyhow.
 

thethingthatlurks

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Feb 16, 2010
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Irridium said:
Record companies demanded $75 trillion in damages?

Are they fucking high?
Imagine that, being sued for roughly 5 times the GNP of the US. Or in plain english, there ain't enough money in the world for that. If they weren't high when they drew up that piece of litigation, they must have had a large piece of shrapnel stuck in the single brain the RIAA head honchos share between themselves.

Anyway, $105,000,000 comes to roughly 7,000,000 cds. It's excessive, but I could imagine that the total "damage" is close to that. Thing is, I really hate how such frivolous lawsuits are even possible. I've stopped buying music altogether (and NOT pirating it either, kthxbye), and I'd encourage everybody else to follow suit. The RIAA is a cancer on the entertainment industry, but have the ability to starve it. Just. Stop. Buying. Music! Or go to the indie crowd, just avoid the RIAA.
 

Jodan

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Mar 18, 2009
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man i forgot about limewire that was like sooo 2005
seems like its beating a dead horse
that or there using limewire as a very ineffective example
"dont cross us or w'll sue you BOGEDY BOGEDY BOO"
 

sunburst

Media Snob
Mar 19, 2010
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Greg Tito said:
Then again, I'm happy to buy my $5 mp3 albums off of Amazon so perhaps the record companies and consumers have reached a happy equilibrium.
Just about. Major retailers are DRM free, the RIAA has calmed down with the lawsuits and everyone is figuring out how the digital age will work. I guess being the first industry to lose their shit over the whole file sharing thing means they will be the first to come out the other side as well. Things aren't perfect yet but they could be (and have been) far worse. Here's hoping the film and video game industries follow suit before long.

God, LimeWire was such a terrible program. When you saw that icon on someone's computer, you knew they probably had viruses up the ass. It was the bane of every "computer guy" in the world's existence and I'm glad it's gone.
 

Trogdor1138

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May 28, 2010
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Once again, media corporations annoy the fuck out of me. 75 trillion is an absurd claim that they pulled out of their ass.

At least they settled for a decent amount that the guy can pay off.

None of this will go to artists, don't kid yourselves.

Also who the hell used Limewire for downloading music anymore?

People wonder why I don't want to (supposedly) "support the artists" by buying their cd's. Perfect fucking proof with all this bullshit flying around.

This won't actually do anything either, you can never stop piracy.
 

icame

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Aug 4, 2010
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This is sad. That guy that caused the loss of millions in revenue for the artists, will still be able to live a rich man after all this. I hate humanity.
 

RJ Dalton

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Aug 13, 2009
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Stop encouraging the corps to sue people! It discourages them from making quality music and movies when they can just sue people for billions of dollars and not have to actually make real stuff.