Music labels are in a constant war with illegal filesharing sites, and their newest battle has resulted in a major victory. A group of US labels filed a lawsuit against website MP3Skull.com, winning over $22 million in damages.
The judge presiding over the case awarded the record labels maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per track, meaning MP3Skull will have pay that amount per song, as opposed to assessing the value of profits lost through the site. The labels submitted 148 tracks as evidence, meaning MP3Skull will have to hand over $22.2 million.
The original domains have since been seized and shutdown. However, the site continues to operate as they’ve switched domains, a common move from sites like this. Another problem that should be addressed is the fact that the owners of the website are unknown. There have been no responses to the lawsuit from MP3Skull, so the outcome of this ordeal is up in the air. And as the site is still up and running, it seems like this is going to be an arduous process.
Stay tuned for more updates as they come in!
