After suffering an excruciating loss at the hands of the RIAA, LimeWire will now face a gauntlet of lawsuits from some of today’s major music publishers. EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Bug Music, MPL Music Publishing, Peermusic and the Richmond Organization are among the companies filing up to take the heads behind the peer-based downloading program to court.
Much like the RIAA’s suit, these publishers’ suit will take aim at a number of parties involved, including LimeWire LLC, its parent Lime Group LLC, the M.J.G. LimeWire Family Limited Partnership, founder Mark Groton and former CTO/COO Greg Bildson. But with any luck for LimeWire, these lawsuits won’t totally crush the company. CEO George Searle responded to the suit by inviting publishers to play an active role in a future legal version of the program.
“We definitely want publishers at the table,” Searle said. “We have had many promising meetings with labels, publishers, songwriters and artists alike about our new music service and a business model that will compensate the entire industry. Publishers are absolutely a part of that solution, and we’re hopeful that this action will serve as a catalyst to help us get to there.”
