Landmark Victory for Capitol Records in Decision Rejecting DMCA “Safe Harbor” Defense
Pryor Cashman successfully represented Capitol Records LLC, d/b/a EMI Music North America in a copyright infringement suit brought against the file-sharing website Grooveshark, owned by defendant Escape Media Group, Inc. Capitol Records brought suit against Escape in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claiming that its Grooveshark site, an unauthorized user-uploaded music-sharing service, violated its copyrights in over 2,800 sound recordings.
In an 80-page Report and Recommendation issued on May 28, 2014, Magistrate Judge Netburn recommended a finding of infringement for each of Capitol’s copyrights based on Escape’s violation of their public performance rights. A finding of secondary liability based on Escape’s users’ direct infringement of Capitol’s rights of reproduction was also recommended.
Notably, the Court determined that Escape did not qualify for protection as an internet service provider under the DMCA’s safe harbor due to, inter alia, its failure to implement the requisite repeat infringer policy, a fundamental condition for safe harbor eligibility. Furthermore, with respect to Capitol’s claims relating to pre-1972 recordings, Judge Netburn concluded that state law copyright mirrors federal law and thus the same finding of infringement applied to those recordings.
U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan went on to adopt Magistrate Judge Netburn’s decision in full on March 25, 2015. To view the District Court’s full decision in Capitol Records, LLC, d/b/a EMI Music North America v Escape Media Group, Inc., please click here .
Partners Donald Zakarin, Chair of the firm’s Litigation Group, Ilene Farkas and Benjamin Semel represented Capitol Records. They are all members of Pryor Cashman's Litigation, Intellectual Property, Media + Entertainment and Digital Media Groups.
