Andre Yoskowitz
20 Jul 2008 17:26
The popular P2P firm LimeWire has filed a preemptive motion to dismiss the case brought against them by the record industry in 2006 over "inducing copyright infringement."
Limewire is the only company that remains, most likely only becuase they have the money and the grounds to fight back. Other P2P firms such as BearShare, WinMX andGrokster have all shut down or settled their cases for $30-50 million USD.
Since the lawsuit was filed in 2006, any progress from either side has been slow to say the least. The RIAA, in charge of the music industry side and Limewire have been filing motions for some time but after 2 years nothing has really happened in the case.
The latest motion is a "summary judgement" which acts as a "streamlined tool a judge can use to make a decision on a case based only on the legal briefs submitted."
The motion exlains in depth why the LimeGroup and its Chairman Mark Gorton should not held liable for inducing copyright infringement and also defends the new transfer of ownership from LimeGroup to Family Limited Partnership. The RIAA suit claims that the ownership transfer is simply a way to "defraud creditors" if a judgment was ever made against LimeGroup. Gorton says its just part of estate planning.
“Plaintiffs contend that the transfer of LG’s interest in LW to the FLP and the subsequent dividends LW paid to the FLP were fraudulent conveyances in violation of Section 276 of New York’s Debtor and Creditor Law,” the defense motion reads. “Plaintiffs’ claim is based on little more than the coincidence of timing and Plaintiffs’ unsupported speculation that the FLP was formed to avoid liability to copyright holders in the wake of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Grokster.”
"The endless stream of lawsuits filed by the major record labels hasn't done anything to help the music consumer, nor has it put a single penny into the pockets of artists, songwriters and publishers." added George Searle, Chief Executive Officer, Lime Wire, in a statement.
"Litigation isn't a good digital business model. We're confident in our position and in the eventual outcome of this lawsuit, and we look forward to the day we can work together with the entire music industry to help expand
its reach and deliver more to the consumer."
Heres to waiting for the RIAA's response.