Victory! Limewire No Longer Allowed to Profit from Theft
May 14, 2010
This week, the District Court of Manhattan has handed a deserved victory to recording artists when Judge Kimba M. Wood found Limewire can be held liable for copyright infringement. This decision continues the strong precedent in favor of protecting intellectual property rights set by the Supreme Court nearly five years ago in the MGM Studios v. Grokster decision, which ruled that software developers can be held liable when their products foster the infringement of copyrighted movies and music. In a unanimous decision, the high court ruled against companies such as Grokster which base their business on the theft of intellectual property rights.
These cases, which seek to stop the illegal downloading of copyrighted material by holding accountable the peer-to-peer (P2P) companies which provide it, are instrumental in laying the foundation for intellectual property rights protection. Yesterday’s ruling is a victory not just for the entertainment industry, but ultimately for legitimate free markets and the American consumer.
This ruling will assist in greatly discouraging the illegal activities that have been taking place for too long and sends a strong signal that intellectual property rights violations will not be tolerated.