Universal Music Loses Round To Grooveshark

(UPDATE 2) Controversial music service Grooveshark has won a round in it's legal battle with Universal and the major music groups.  A New York court has rejected UMG's claim that safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) did not apply for pre-1972 recordings, since that were not covered by federal copyright law at the time of their creation.

EMI had lost a similar DMCA safe harbor court battle with MP3Tunes last year.

Yesterday the judge also berated Universal for attempts to have some counter claims by Grooveshark dismissed.

Grooveshark's legal battle is far from over, however.  Whether safe harbor applies at all to Grooveshark is at stake, as well as, allegations that Grooveshark execs encouraged unlicensed material to be uploaded onto the site.

MORE: Full Text Of UMG vs. Escape Media (Grooveshark) Court Ruling