Grooveshark joins Sirius on wrong side of copyright suit

0

GavelA second digital music service has been hit for copyright infringement, in a second state. After Sirius XM was smacked in California, so has online streamer Grooveshark been hit in New York.


In the Sirius case, the suit involved not paying royalties for songs recorded before 1972. In this case, it involves Grooveshark’s making available songs that record companies had specifically asked it to take down. According to a New York Times report, there were 5,977 such songs among the millions that are said to be available on the service.

The service is owned by Escape Media Group, which is said to have a long and test relationship with labels.

Damages have not been set in either this case or the Sirius case, and are said to be the next step for Grooveshark. The possibility that they may rise into the multiple millions of dollars could pose an existential threat to the service.