Grooveshark possibly has to pay $150,000 per song for copyright violations

Music streaming service Grooveshark possibly has to pay $736 million in damages to the American music industry after a judge ruled the company violated copyright on 5,000 songs "willful" and "in bad faith".

GrooveSharkLogo

ADVERTISEMENT

Judge Thomas Griesa stated in a court order that because of Grooveshark's copyright violations he will tell members of the jury they can choose to award the statutory maximum of $150,000 in damages per song. Copyrights were violated on music from, amongst others, Eminem, Green Day and Madonna. If the jury chooses to make Grooveshark pay $150,000 per song, the company will have to pay $736 million in damages in total.

Grooveshark has been sued by 9 record companies including Sony Music Entertainment, Arista Music and Warner Bros Records. The record companies argue that the two founders of the music streaming service had directed employees to offer copyright protected tracks on Grooveshark without permission of the rights holders. The judge already ruled in September this was a violation of the law.

Grooveshark's lawyers hope to limit losses at trial by arguing there were mitigating circumstances to the infringement. According to the lawyers Grooveshark tried to secure licenses from the record labels and the company will present evidence of its attempts. The company also argues it has the policy to honor copyright holders' "takedown" requests that comply with the DCMA.

ADVERTISEMENT

No posts to display