Warner Music, Sony To Join Universal In Lawsuit Against Grooveshark

Sony Music Entertainment and the Warner Music Group are reportedly joining Universal Music Group in their lawsuit against Grooveshark.  The suit, already filed in United States District Court in Manhattan, alleges that Grooveshark engaged in large scale and long term copyright infringement encouraged by company executives.

Court documents released previously include emails that appear to show that Grooveshark executives set out to build as big an audience as possible while not paying for music. In one email dated 12/1/2009, Chairmen Sina Simantob wrote to another Grooveshark executive: "…we are achieving all this growth without paying a dime to any of the labels…". (more)

The expanded lawsuit was first reported by the New York Times and has been confirmed by other sources. EMI preciously settled its lawsuit with Grooveshark, and indie licensing group Merlin announced a deal earlier this year.

In a statement on Wednesday, Grooveshark declined to comment on the suit, but said: “We respect the intellectual property of all artists, and our strict policies are designed to ensure that our users only upload content to which they are entitled. This is a policy which we vigorously enforce within D.M.C.A. requirements.”