Law.com: Does $75 trillion even exist? The thirteen record companies that are suing file-sharing company Lime Wire for copyright infringement certainly thought so. When they won a summary judgment ruling last May they demanded damages that could reach this mind-boggling amount, which is more than five times the national debt.
Manhattan federal district court judge Kimba Wood, however, saw things differently. She labeled the record companies’ damages request “absurd” and contrary to copyright laws in a 14-page opinion.
The record companies, which had demanded damages ranging from $400 billion to $75 trillion, had argued that Section 504(c)(1) of the Copyright Act provided for damages for each instance of infringement where two or more parties were liable. For a popular site like Lime Wire, which had thousands of users and millions of downloads, Wood held that the damage award would be staggering under this interpretation. “If plaintiffs were able to pursue a statutory damage theory predicated on the number of direct infringers per work, defendants’ damages could reach into the trillions,” she wrote. “As defendants note, plaintiffs are suggesting an award that is ‘more money than the entire music recording industry has made since Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877.”
Full story over at Law.com
Very interesting and not entirely surprising albeit the quantum of remuneration! Although Napster provided the flogging goat by all which other P2P portals would be judged, you can’t help but wonder if the closure of this site would not simply put demand into a different source. As long as there are people who wish to share files, there will always be sites of this nature. However it proved quite difficult to envoke an injunction against ‘the pirate bay’.
Jeez, what a lot of fuss about nothing. Pay the two dollars.
It is absurd! If the record companies were successful in their law suit (of any sum of money, reasonable or otherwise), I wonder if they would then spend the time working out how much of the money is to be paid to the artists involved? It should be a condition of winning the case!
Is there a bank big enough to stash 75 trillion? Lol and besides, money will no longer exist where we’re heading in the fourth dimension. How many lifetimes would it take to count it all, let alone spend it? Ha ha
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Sod them.
That’s my entire view on the matter.
I love the notion that by counting Limewire’s downloads the record industry lawyers can assess damages to that amount – the logic of the ranting angry loser… surely file share type download is not illegal if one has bought the item already?
I am unashamed of downloading records I already own on vinyl that the industry deems I should not be able to transpose to another format…they should be grateful I bought the s****g record at their extortionate prices in the first place.
Never has a more suitable category been given to a subject on here: Scammers and Technology.
Did Dr. Evil come up with this amount?
I agree with an above sentiment: it you like music, pay for it. No one can claim the current economy pushes them to steal music either. $1.29 on itunes here stateside, costs way less than a double super whatever coffee at Starbucks.
It’s about time Limewire has to pay, and hopefully the artists will start to get what they deserve. I’m not talking about the big successful artists, I would like to see the struggling artist get his share as well. Besides I don’t know why anyone would want to use that virus filled website to download music that sounds like crap. I would like to see more music brought out on vinyl again, much purer sound.
The total derivatives market waiting to collapse runs at
about 1.14 Quadrillion. 75 trillion is peanuts.
I honestly don’t see what all the fuss is about. Most of the time, I, like many others, end up buying albums I’ve already downloaded. If anything, file sharing has lead me to buy more music than I would have without it. There is no evidence suggesting limewire is responsible for anywhere near that level of revenue loss. Besides, it’s not like musicians need record companies anymore.
Limewire was originally designed for that reason, to share your own work etc… IE small artists etc… but we all know what Limewire is really used for.
But there was once a judge who through a similar case like this out saying that there can be no case against limewire as they are the creators of a software that wasn’t intended for the purpose of illegal download, what he went on to say is, does that mean that every vicitm of home burglary go onto sue the manufacturer of crow bars and hammer because a criminal found a new use for such item?
If our own police force cant enforce such laws and control whats downloaded, then why should Limewire be sued?? once company cant control all its users.
75 Trillion?! Come on, that’s way more than the U.S. national debt! What next? The television industry is going to sue YouTube for a bahjillionzillion dollars? I don’t download music, but those numbers are beyond silly.
That is an insane figure of money! Surely just shutting down limewire would surfice? Then no more money would be ‘lost’