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LimeWire to pay $105 million to music industry in piracy settlement

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LimeWire -- a file-sharing service that was responsible for the distribution of millions, if not billions of songs -- and its CEO Mark Gorton have agreed to pay $105 million to a group of major record labels in an out-of-court settlement.

The settlement, which was announced Thursday and reported by our sister blog Company Town, will bring to an end a piracy suit against Gorton and LimeWire, which was shut down in October after a court order mandated that the service stop allowing its users to share copyrighted content with each other.

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‘We are pleased to have reached a large monetary settlement following the court’s finding that both LimeWire and its founder Mark Gorton [are] personally liable for copyright infringement,’ said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive of the Recording Industry Assn. of America, who represented the record labels against the peer-to-peer service.

Bainwol said in a statement that LimeWire ‘wreaked enormous damage on the music community, helping contribute to thousands of lost jobs and fewer opportunities for aspiring artists.’

He also praised the settlement as a landmark end to ‘the continuing evolution of online music to a legitimate marketplace that appropriately rewards creators. This hard-fought victory is reason for celebration by the entire music community, its fans and the legal services that play by the rules.’

Gorton and officials at LimeWire were unavilable for comment Friday afternoon.

The suit went to a New York City jury trial last week to determine the amount of damages Gorton and LimeWire would be liable to pay after the October court injunction found the company liable for copyright infringement.

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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

twitter.com/nateog

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