In 2018, a company called Wolfgang’s – of live-music archive Wolfgang’s Vault fame – was ruled liable for copyright infringement after a lawsuit brought by music publishers. However, subsequent developments in the case have not gone the rightsholders’ way, with a jury awarding them nearly the minimum possible damages in the case ($189k for the 197 cited compositions).
Now the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has upheld that verdict after the publishers appealed, and has given them several more setbacks. Billboard reported that the appeals court overturned a ruling that Wolfgang’s had to pay its $2.5m legal expenses; that the company’s owner Bill Sagan was personally liable for the damages; and upheld another aspect of the previous ruling: that Wolfgang’s can continue making the offending live-concerts footage available through its service.
“Both the district court and the Second Circuit have now recognised that the recordings at issue serve a valuable function in the public interest,” the company’s lawyer Michael Elkin told Billboard.
Music Ally’s next Learn Live webinar will help you build the strategies for artists to thrive in new international markets!