MUMBAI: Universal Music Group has sued music US based website Grooveshark for infringing on copyrights covering songs that were recorded before 1972 which includes artistes like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Cat Stevens, the Jackson Five and the Who.
In the filing against parent company Escape Media, Universal claims that Grooveshark “uses the lure of free access” to draw web traffic which leads to money from advertising. UMG also said that the site stores “copyrighted sound recordings on its own servers … and then distribute(s) copies of those recordings to the users.” Grooveshark allegedly also “boasted” about targeting “the very segment of users that are bringing the labels to their knees with illegal downloading”.
UMG wants a preliminary and permanent injunction against Grooveshark as well as damages and costs.
In June 2009, EMI sued Grooveshark on similar grounds, a case that was settled in October.