Universal Music Group Sues Grooveshark

[JerseyGirl]

Universal Music Group has reportedly filed a lawsuit against music service Grooveshark over alleged copyright violations.

According to a report at CNET, the complaint alleges Grooveshark management has led an effort to upload more than 100,000 songs to the music service and claims to have supporting emails and documents. Universal is reported to be seeking the maximum in damages of $150,000 per infringing act.

A statement provided to Billboard.biz by a Universal Music Group spokesperson claims Grooveshark's senior management and employees "have personally uploaded tens of thousands of recordings to the service in clear violation of the law."

According to CNET, Universal says it has evidence of thousands of songs uploaded being by the company's executives. And the claim points to a Digital Music News post from April in which a commenter claiming to be a Grooveshark employee details how management tasks its employees with uploading songs into its system.

MORE IN LINK: Universal Music Group Sues Grooveshark: Report | Billboard.biz

 

[Slip'nn2Darkness]

I really can't stand UMG.. They went after You Tube and of course this will get the other big music groups to follow suit..
This whole thing is such a mess.. Greedy SOB's..:mad

 

[LG]

They remind me of the story of the Dutch boy who saved his village from being flooded by putting his finger in a hole in the dyke.

Unfortunately these record company morons don't realize the Entire Dyke has been washed away already by the internet and all the options people now have at their disposal. Grooveshark provided a decent alternative to YT which has become almost useless now because of the same lawsuits. I always laugh we used to record FM signals with our tape decks back in the day, but that never stopped us from buying albums.

Sigh...they are victims of their own shortsightedness and overwhelming greed and this bird has already flown ages ago.

 

[sco703]

Doesn't surprise me. They're greedy. They want their money. People will turn to other alternatives if need be.

 

[METALPRIEST]

Are there downloads involved??

I thought Grooveshark was just for streaming/ listening???

What's the harm in that?

 

[Groovy Man]

^ Uploading....they don't want you uploading...

It's the same crappy deal as with You Tube.

No Warner Brothers, Sony artists, etc.

Not even for streaming.

 

[LG]

^^Yes Groovy that is it in a nutshell. They've given up trying to lasso the downloaders but will go to great lengths to prosecute the big time uploaders.

I feel like I am witnessing the equivalent of the sinking of the Titanic,,,the Golden Age of music is ending right in front of my eyes in less than ten years.

When they stop making Physical copies I am going to retire from collecting except at 2nd hand shops for vinyl. I will not support the Cloud they are imposing on us and the crap that Apple is shoveling as Quality...it's a complete bleeping joke and a tragedy.:mad

 

[Groovy Man]

^ I agree LG....

What's even worse, by not making CDs, albums....they're destroying the music experience for the younger generation. No longer will they have the thrill of running home, can't waiting to heard the album/CD in it's entirety for the first time, and then talking to their friends about it, asking them, what do they think....

No more album art, no more lyrics printed....

Nowadays....kids just want the hits....and maybe a few other non hits....but not willing to purchase the whole album...

The idea of 'cherry picking' the just the 'best songs' from albums, new or old, and downloading them, is destroying the music experience, for all of us, no matter what age - but mostly the kids.

I agree with you LG - when they stop making psychical CDs - I will not be a happy camper. :mad

 

[JerseyGirl]

Me too LG and Groovy. I hate that CD's are now being phased out. First the album, then the 8-Track (well those sucked anyway), then the cassette and now the CD. What do you think will come after the MP3?

 

[LG]

^^Our only hope is Blu-Ray, if they follow Fripp and Wilson's lead and release all the great old albums in that format, nobody has really taken advantage of it yet as for the new releases...if they only offer crappy AAC or MP3's I am not interested. If they offer FLAC, APE or even Studio Master downloads then I will take those and Make my own Hard Copy.

Otherwise...I feel totally melancholy about what the future holds. I hate to say this and will come across like an old fossil but it's the new generation that is driving all this. They want everything on camera, they want to buy only one or two songs, they live almost exclusively in the digital/internet world now at the expense of the Real World and have no problem with losing everything we have created to offer the highest quality Hard Copies over the last 50+ years. Makes me want to hurl first then cry.