File-Sharing Dealt A Major Blow In LimeWire Infringement Case

Earlier this week a US District Court judge leaved a major blow against file-sharing when she found LimeWire and it's software makers liable for inducing copyright infringement and engaging in unfair competition.

The ongoing case, Arista Records LLC et al v. Lime Group et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 06-05936, was originally filed in August 2006 but it wasn't until earlier this week that U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood agreed with the record companies that LimeWire's parent Lime Wire LLC and its founder Mark Gorton were liable.

"The evidence demonstrates that Lime Wire optimized LimeWire's features to ensure that users can download digital recordings, the majority of which are protected by copyright, and that Lime Wire assisted users in committing infringement," Wood wrote in her 59-page ruling.

Wood has granted a summary judgment against LimeWire which could amount to millions of dollars. The RIAA along with their partners: Arista, Atlantic, BMG Music, Capital, Elektra, Interscope, LaFace, Motown, Priority, Sony BMG, UMG, Virgin and Warner Brothers are the 13 record companies that sued Lime Group were seeking $150,000 per copyright violation, though the final damages in the lawsuit have not yet been determined. The lawsuit claimed at least 93 percent of LimeWire’s file sharing traffic was unauthorized copyright material. For a site that claims 50 million unique monthly users that could amount to a very hefty fine!

Judge Wood scheduled a June 1 hearing to determine how to proceed.

View the full summary (pdf) and more details via Wired.com and for further reading checkout Ars Technica "LimeWire sliced by RIAA, liable for massive infringement"