Audiogalaxy Settles US Music Piracy Lawsuit
From The Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK -- Audiogalaxy Inc., a music Web site, settled a lawsuit filed against it by major record companies and music publishers, which had accused it of allowing music piracy over the Internet, according to a recording-industry group involved in the case.
Under terms of the confidential settlement, Audiogalaxy of Austin, Texas, will make a "substantial payment" to the two trade groups that filed the lawsuit on behalf of recording companies and music publishers, said a spokesman for one
of the groups, the Recording Industry Association of America. In the settlement signed yesterday, Audiogalaxy also agreed to remove from its site all material that infringes on the music industry's copyrights, the spokesman said.
Audiogalaxy founder Michael S. Merhej, named in the original complaint as a defendant, didn't return calls to comment.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court late last month in Manhattan, was the latest effort by the music industry to shut down services that allow users to swap pirated music. Recording companies have sued a number of other companies on similar grounds, including Napster Inc., Streamcast Networks Inc., Kazaa BV and
Grokster Ltd. The Internet and compact- disc-burning technologies on home personal computers have been blamed by people in the industry for slumping music sales. The lawsuit against Audiogalaxy said the company operated a service that
let users share pirated copies of songs "by the millions, if not billions," including works by Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and R.E.M.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
From The Wall Street Journal
NEW YORK -- Audiogalaxy Inc., a music Web site, settled a lawsuit filed against it by major record companies and music publishers, which had accused it of allowing music piracy over the Internet, according to a recording-industry group involved in the case.
Under terms of the confidential settlement, Audiogalaxy of Austin, Texas, will make a "substantial payment" to the two trade groups that filed the lawsuit on behalf of recording companies and music publishers, said a spokesman for one
of the groups, the Recording Industry Association of America. In the settlement signed yesterday, Audiogalaxy also agreed to remove from its site all material that infringes on the music industry's copyrights, the spokesman said.
Audiogalaxy founder Michael S. Merhej, named in the original complaint as a defendant, didn't return calls to comment.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court late last month in Manhattan, was the latest effort by the music industry to shut down services that allow users to swap pirated music. Recording companies have sued a number of other companies on similar grounds, including Napster Inc., Streamcast Networks Inc., Kazaa BV and
Grokster Ltd. The Internet and compact- disc-burning technologies on home personal computers have been blamed by people in the industry for slumping music sales. The lawsuit against Audiogalaxy said the company operated a service that
let users share pirated copies of songs "by the millions, if not billions," including works by Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and R.E.M.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
