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Grooveshark Found Guilty of Massive Copyright Infringement
An anonymous reader writes: If you're a Grooveshark user, you should probably start backing up your collection. In a decision (PDF) released Monday, the United States District Court in Manhattan has found Grooveshark guilty of massive copyright infringement based on a preponderance of internal emails, statements from former top executives, direct evidence from internal logs, and willfully deleted files and source code. An email from Grooveshark's CTO in 2007 read, "Please share as much music as possible from outside the office, and leave your computers on whenever you can. This initial content is what will help to get our network started—it’s very important that we all help out! ... Download as many MP3’s as possible, and add them to the folders you’re sharing on Grooveshark. Some of us are setting up special 'seed points' to house tens or even hundreds of thousands of files, but we can’t do this alone." He also threatened employees who didn't contribute.
They get their music by having their customers upload it.
It was the hyped-up streaming music service that came after Pandora but before Spotify.
Mickey Mouse was invented in 1928, after that there is no public domain.
Unless Congress extends the copyright law for another 20 years, the Mickey Mouse copyright is scheduled to expire in 2023. Unless the Disney CORPORATION lobbies Congress again and/or files a trademark application, Mickey Mouse will enter the public domain.
No musical recordings have entered the public domain due to expiration of copyright. Ever. When the U.S. Congress expanded copyright to sound recordings in 1972, it allowed existing sound recording copyright laws at the state level, some of which provide for a perpetual term, to continue for one full work-made-for-hire copyright term. This means all sound recordings produced before 1972 are under copyright in at least one U.S. state until 2067 (17 USC 301(c)). If the songs were first published on or after January 1, 1923, the songs are not in the public domain in the United States. If at least one songwriter was surviving on or after January 1, 1944, the songs are not in the public domain in the European Union.
I hadn't realized this track was posted on YouTube. It was a collaboration between me and the enchanting Jo Gabriel, and never actually officially released anywhere. Or at least I thought...
And, rather than suing, they post a link to the video.
They're not alone, either. A *ton* of artists would love that kind of exposure. Especially for *free*.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.