Songwriters Sue 3 Software Firms in Copyright Case
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Two songwriters have sued MusicCity.com and two other companies for alleged copyright infringement, claiming that software distributed by the businesses lets users trade music over the Internet without authorization.
Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the duo who wrote “Jailhouse Rock,” filed the class-action suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday on behalf of more than 20,000 music publishers. The suit names MusicCity Networks Inc., Grokster Ltd. and Consumer Empowerment as defendants.
The companies are accused of “facilitating, materially contributing to and encouraging wholesale infringement of the world’s most popular songs,” according to the complaint.
MusicCity distributes software called Morpheus. Consumer Empowerment, also known as FastTrack, developed the file-sharing software licensed to MusicCity and similar technology distributed by Grokster.
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