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Uncategorized Wednesday, March 23rd 2011 at 5:48 pm

LimeWire is Being Sued for Up to $75 Trillion, Judge Thinks It’s “Absurd”

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Thirteen record companies are suing LimeWire LLC, makers of the file-sharing program LimeWire, for as many as $75 trillion, a hilarious sum of money that quite possibly doesn’t even exist. When the companies won a ruling against Lime Wire last May, they requested damages that could now end up totaling the aforementioned ridiculous amount, which is five times our national debt.

The plaintiffs requested damages from $400 billion to $75 trillion and argued that Section 504(c)(1) of the Copyright Act “provided for damages for each instance of infringement where two or more parties were liable,” which could explain how the total could somehow rise to the $75 trillion, because each “instance of infringement” could technically be counted as each and every separate download.

Judge Kimba Wood made clear in a 14 page opinion that she found the request “absurd” and claims that it stretches copyright laws to their breaking point. She didn’t entirely side with the defendants, though, and said the damages should at least be one damage awarded per work, rather than per instance of infringement, which will still form quite a hefty bill. The defendants seriously-but-humorously note that the “plaintiffs are suggesting an award that is more money than the entire music recording industry has made since Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877.”

There is a broader question raised by the requested LimeWire damages: If any group of litigants could even dare to ask for a fraction of the money, does it mean that copyright law is out of whack? Considering that these laws obviously weren’t written with modern day technology in mind, particularly digitally distributed software, they arguably diverge pretty sharply from the society and technology that they regulate.

(Law.com via Slashdot)

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  • Anonymous

    I’m always a little fuzzy with copyright law, so excuse me if this is incredibly stupid, but how does litigants being able to ask for money make copyright ineffective?

  • http://alexcolgan.wordpress.com Alex Colgan

    Not ineffective, just rather divorced from contemporary realities.

  • http://alexcolgan.wordpress.com Alex Colgan

    Not ineffective, just rather divorced from contemporary realities.

  • http://www.standupforkids.org blackroseMD1

    The fact that they are asking for more than the entire world’s GDP should have the case thrown out. Obviously it’s an abuse of copyright law and the court system. In fact…throw the case out, and then hit the record companies with $1 trillion fines, just for being stupid.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jo-Jackson/100000310000833 Jo Jackson

    I remember buying blank cassette tapes and recording music from the radio. No one said it was illegal, I wasn’t afraid of getting sued and everybody I knew did it. The only difference in downloading from the internet and recording on tape is the type of media you are using. Record companies are gluttonous vultures, stealing money, and music rights from talented, inexperienced artists. Screw their so called loss. If it were impossible to download music, people who download music now would still not buy your $25 cd’s. They download it because it’s there. You haven’t lost anything because these people would not have bought your product anyway. Face the facts and start a new division in your company to replace cd sales. The internet has won; it has replaced cd’s just like cd’s replaced cassette tapes and cassette tapes replaced vinyl records, etc., etc., etc. Get over your money grubbing selves and stfu already, you’re starting to sound like those whiny Metallica members.

  • http://twitter.com/JBod Justin

    Did they delicately place their pinky fingers to their lips after the demanded it?

  • J_peekin

    well, they got $$ from vinyl – then redid the SAME thing for 8 track, and got coin. then they made tapes. then they made another set of coin from the tapes. then they made BLANK tapes. then we could record off the radio, like jo said. the copies were crap, but, atleast you could record the song (voiceovers n all) if there was the ever elusive song that wasnt out on tape yet. then they made cd’s and again, made another set of coin. then they AGAIN made blank cd’s for the masses. at this time, people started to digitize their own – THATS when they started to get upset. i have to agree w jo – i dont think those peeps who pirate would buy the music cd. i still do, but thats because i WANT to make sure the ARTIST gets paid. now, they need to LOWER the costs, without screwing the artists (less profit is STILL profit. dont bitch about the advertizing that it cost, cause these days advertizing is youtube. – think 2010, not 1990) the record company itself has forgotten the consumer, except for the cash cow it see’s them at. once they can re-do their economic model, and adjust payscales, they should be fine, as there is still royalties coming from mp3 sales.

    learn from what is, dont think about what was, and try to plan for what will be. keeping yourself mired in 1990 napster “i gotta sue cause i lost cash” only makes you look like (very very)greedy people to the masses, and negative pr doesnt help sell physical media at all.

  • james braselton

    hi there $75,000,000,000,000 75 trillion dollers what i minuite global economy is less then $75 trillion dollers soo how dose a company have money then global economy then that means no money for any one 100% jobs lobs global jobless nice going

  • james braselton

    hi there $75,000,000,000,000 75 trillion dollers what i minuite global economy is less then $75 trillion dollers soo how dose a company have money then global economy then that means no money for any one 100% jobs lobs global jobless nice going

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZVF42QAVKY4EIWDOVB3DHYLYPQ Alain

    Quite aside from the headline stealing figure of $7.5*10^13, looks as if you are safe if you actually host some pirated content (see rapidshare court decisions), and absolutely screwed if you just write software that connects people. Go figure.

  • Guest

    “The internet has won” -Epic :D

  • Guest

    75 trillion… talk about megatrolling

  • Guest

    75 trillion… talk about megatrolling

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Art-Slagter/100000234688845 Art Slagter

    absurd amount amounts to an absurdity – which i gather is what the sellcos desired

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Melvin-Mickens/100000853268952 Melvin Mickens

    Wtf deey qoin’ doo wiit dhaat moneey dooe. Be more realistic dumb muddaa fuckaaas !
    SB: $75 Trillion maah dick niqqa !

  • http://twitter.com/ask412 Paul Richards

    hmmm ……….interesting ……..  iCloud   ……………..  will change everything

  • shawn metz

    This is the answer to the national debt. WIn

  • Canttakemyid

    they should ask for immortality and super powers while they’re at it

  • KEL

    I love Limewire. FUCK THA SYSTEM!

  • mikeburton

    i think it needs to be put out there that its not lime wires fault that someone puts a download for others on there website in fact i think its a big fault in the law system here and a flaw that needs to be fixed in fact i think lime wire needs to counter sue for there losses… keeping in mind that $75 trillion is way to much to get but a few mill would be considered. and as i was saying how can lime wire get sued if someone posting a download on there website… onless they were asked to remove it and refused.. but its just not right that’s like me sueing someone for posting anything on face book regarding me.. or youtube for haveing there shit put on there.. imo this is wrong on so many levels!!! 

  • lolattrollcompanies

    WOW and this is coming from an industry that is making more now than it ever has before. File sharing has HELPED them! And they want more! 

  • Craig

    It just kills me when they charge $10,000 an instance for a $0.98 song being ‘stolen’. When a $0.99 candy bar gets stolen, and it goes to small claims court, the damages charge is typically around $7.00

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001006406591 Isaac Gatewood

    The western world is filled with cooperate capitalism and is way too litigious, this proves it! Though people were using it to pirate music that wasn’t what it was for originally but I digress a little. This lawsuit is ridiculous I don’t think there’s that much money with ALL of the countries in the world combined.

  • grhrwhrsj

    If they officially owe 75 trillion, it is impossible for them to pay it unless they gather all the money in the world, and then get 20 trillion more somehow.