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back to article LimeWire settles with record labels, to pay $105m for copyright hurt

Defunct P2P file-sharing network LimeWire settled out of court with major record companies yesterday in a $105m agreement. The settlement follows a May 2010 ruling by US District Judge Kimba Woods, who found Lime Group and Lime Wire LLC – the parent companies behind LimeWire – had wrongfully assisted users in making pirate …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I wonder if his fine will get knocked down to £1000?

    Well he didn't leak anybodies personal details, so I guess not.

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  2. Mr D
    Coat

    Well

    The world is now saved from p2p and the music industry will recover.! Hurrah! Just grabbing my coat, forgot to login my <insert one of many file sharing application alternatives> before I left for work.

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  3. Robert Ramsay

    Indeed...

    "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."

    Almost as much as the record companies... http://www.jagshouse.com/music/billnelson.html

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  4. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    What a load of crap

    Limewire did not result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. The reason for that statement is that somehow the MAFIAA is too stupid to understand that one downloaded song would not necessarily have resulted in the sale of said song should it not be available for download.

    That being said, most artists generate the biggest part of their income from concerts and other stuff, not from selling CD's. Which is not surprising seeing as how the MAFIAA takes most of the profits.

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    1. James Hughes 1
      Reply Icon

      Costs of touring

      Was talking to a roadie relative the other day (quite a high up one - first name terms with Madonna, Bon Jovi, U2 etc). The latest U2 tour costs >$1mill/day to run. They need to get 90k people in each stadium for it to break even. The stage itself costs $0.5M/day to use, plus 150 employees at £130/day (sorry about mixed currencies).

      U2 are not making a profit on their current tour.

      Some of his other stories were quite amusing - Best people to work for Bon Jovi - worst, J-Lo. Madonna sounded hard going as well!

      He's just got back from the Russian leg of Roger Waters tour - recommended it as one of the best he has seen in 30 years.

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      1. Cazzo Enorme
        Reply Icon

        Re: Costs of touring

        The money for big bands is in the merchandise, which is why a T-shirt at a Wembley or O2 Arena show is so astronomically priced.

        As for bands at the opposite end of the scale, we have little chance of breaking even on a tour. CD sales dried up once things like Napster took off, while T-shirt sales and the smallish fee we earn from the promoter wont even cover accommodation, minibus hire and fuel.

        I still gig because I enjoy it - the reason I started doing it in the first place, and of course the only reason to be doing it. However, when I started at the tail end of the 1990s, we broke even when touring, thanks solely to CD sales.

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        1. Anonymous Coward
          Reply Icon
          Anonymous Coward

          @ Cazzo Enorme

          Have you ever considered that your music didn't do well touring and overall because you aren't any good?

          Rather then blaming pirates for the end of your local flash in the pan popularity I would be looking closer to home.

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    2. Cazzo Enorme
      Reply Icon

      Re: What a load of crap

      Of course LimeWire and its ilk result in the loss of hundreds of jobs. For example, why do you think the Zavvi (formerly Virgin) music stores stopped being profitable? Why are the HMV music stores struggling? And no, it isn't all down to Amazon.

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      1. Daniel Johnson
        Reply Icon

        Supermarkets

        Re: Cazzo Enorme/Zavvi & HMV - I think their problems are more to due with supermarkets selling CDs/DVDs at or below cost price. These lines are not a supermarket's primary business, so they can treat them as a loss leader.

        Ironically, when I worked in retail, it was impossible for us to compete with shops like HMV, WHSmiths, etc which sold videos at a retail price that was lower than our wholesale price. Now bigger fish like Tescos have come along.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    There's a bit of difference..

    Between their original 'estimate' of the damages that Limewire owed and what the music labels finally accepted. Almost makes you cynical about the value placed on such copyright infringment.

    So now I guess we can look forward to struggling artists being paid their proper cut out of the $105m. Although the size of the proper cut might vary depending on who you talk to. After all, something has to fund the media industry paying all the lobbyists and politicians.

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  6. Smelly Socks
    Pirate

    The artists

    I'm glad that the record companies have the artists first and foremost on their minds. Can they just confirm exactly how much of this settlement the artists will be seeing?

    -ss

    /Bucaroos, because I need someone to tell me who are the pirates in this argument

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    The artistes wll be happy...

    ...when the music companies share out all that cash.

    Don't hold your breath, Shergal Farkey, I don't think you'll see a penny for that copy of Teenage Kicks I downloaded just to annoy you...and then deleted without listening.

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    I hope aspiring artists aren't expecting anything from the RIAA

    “Any funds recouped are re-invested into our ongoing education and anti-piracy programs", a RIAA spokesman said last time. So how much of the $105m are the ripped-off artists going to see?

    Paris, because she knows about being screwed.

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  9. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Joke

    I guess Lady Gaga is next ...

    "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."

    1 1
  10. Robert E A Harvey
    Grenade

    ok...

    Now how about the damage done to various halfwit neighbours when their kids downloaded mal-ware loaded copies of Limewire?

    or vmy sanity trying to clean it up?

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    1. Sly
      Reply Icon
      Coat

      hush now...

      I make good side money cleaning up malware off people's borked computers.

      oops... time to go clean off another someone's PC because they like to look at porn and download illegal stuffs.

      /coat - mine's the one with the thumb drive full of malware removal software.

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  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Time to face the music

    Why people think they can get away with piracy and illegal distribution of copyright protected materials is beyond me. Some folks need to learn the hard way.

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    1. asdf
      Reply Icon
      Flame

      Another valid question

      Another question one can ask is how greedy record companies could charge $17 for 2 or 3 good songs on a CD in 1991 and perhaps $10 for a cassette? As for the serious crime of breaking copyright law I suppose the Hague needs to put genocide on the back burner and go after the real threat to west civ. We also can't allow Mickey Mouse to go into the public domain so soon copyright will be lifetime plus 10,000 years. I am so glad Obama is using homeland security to go after the evil copyright violators. They are a threat to any society that believes %1 of the people should own %99 of everything.

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  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No money for the artists.

    I wonder how future cases will go when the defence points out to the jury that the so called aggrieved artists wont see a penny of any settlement and the whole case has been brought about by some self serving, power mad control freaks who are using the good names of said artist to make themselves richer and more powerful.

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    1. asdf
      Reply Icon
      Flame

      true of most industries

      There simply isn't enought money leftover to pay the people that actually create things after the sociopath self appointed important executives at the top get their fill first.

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  13. David 45

    Who's coffers?

    And just who, exactly, is getting the lion's share of all this loverley money? Not the artists I would strongly suspect!

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  14. Bounty

    cost of running pirate business

    So they're gonna pay up 105 million. How much money have they made selling ads, installing toolbars and selling their premium pirate product?

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  15. michaelh
    Joke

    I guess...

    ...Limewire declared themselves bankcrupt so that the IRS would write off the majority of the previously demanded $75 trillion reimbursement fee?

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  16. Andy Fletcher

    Er, how much?

    Serously, Limewire made enough to be able afford to pay out $105M?! If the music industry isn't making any money, have they not thought of looking at who is. If you can't adapt your business, you haven't got one.

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