After a prolonged legal battle, EMI emerged victorious in its case against locker service MP3tunes in March but now Michael Robertson, the site’s founder, has moved to have the ruling overturned, reconsidered or the damages ($48m) lowered. EMI’s lawyers have reacted by saying Robertson’s appeal is based on “self-serving characterisations of isolated pieces of evidence and testimony”. Part of his appeal was that the damages awarded to EMI were out of step with the perceived loss of sales. Quoted in Law 360, EMI’s legal representatives added, “We were under no obligation to demonstrate actual losses to recover statutory damages. The jury was free […] to conclude that the harm to plaintiffs [and the industry generally] from defendants’ conduct went well beyond lost sales.” Robertson’s previous venture, MP3.com, ran into legal problems in 2000 and had to pay out $160m to labels and publishers but in the recent EMI-led case he too was held liable. It remains to be seen what impact (if any) his appeal will have.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…