Posted by Mike McCready | April 24th, 2015 | 1 Response
In the lawsuit of UMG v. Escape Media, Grooveshark’s parent company, the judge has set the range of statutory damages. On Monday, the jury will be instructed that the maximum statutory damage is $150,000 per infringed work rather than the usual $30,000 because the infringements were willful.
Minimum Due From Grooveshark & Founders: $3.7 Million
With 4907 tracks ruled infringing, the minimum total damages that can be awarded is $3,680,250 and the maximum is $736,050,000, according to the judge.
“Escape was directly liable for the infringing uploads of its employees, because the record included uncontroverted evidence that defendants instructed their employees to upload copyright protected music onto Grooveshark,” the judge wrote in his decision. “The court also found that defendants Tarantino and Greenberg-the co-founders of Grooveshark-were jointly and severally liable for Escape’s infringement, and were also liable for direct infringement based on their own infringing uploads.”
Mike McCready is an entrepreneur at the crossroads of music and technology. He pioneered the introduction of Hit Song Science into the music industry and followed up with Music Xray, the company he co-founded and serves as CEO. His companies have been the subject of case studies at Harvard Business School, IESE and he frequently guest speaks at many of the top business schools around the world. He helps the music industry identify high potential songs and talent and helps musicians get deals, get fans, & get better: http://musicxray.com