Did you hear that Flea (of Red Hot Chili Peppers fame) is going to teach schoolchildren music? Well, Warner Music Group (which represents the Chili Peppers) is going to teach Imeem a lesson – it’s suing the social networking site for copyright infringement.
“Warner, the world’s fourth-largest music company, is claiming damages up to $150,000 for each copyrighted work infringed on the site,” reports Reuters. Warner represents ultra-famous artists like Radiohead, Metallica, and Frank Sinatra – and Wikipedia lists 239 others – so the final, yet-to-be-determined sum could be nearly incalculable.
I’m sure the lawyers will find a way, though, and as they push their calculators into overdrive, all is quiet at the “online community where artists, fans & friends can promote their content, share their tastes, and discover new blogs, photos, music and video.” By digging into the “Community Rules” section of Imeem, Murdok did at least discover that the site regards copyright infringement as “just not cool.”
Oh, blast. Imeem made the lawyers laugh and now they’ve got to start their calculations all over again; they’re certainly not buying that slacker excuse. “Imeem is no innocent infringer,” states Warner in its suit. “It invites Imeem’s millions of users to flock to its website to copy, adapt, distribute and perform unlicensed sound recordings and music videos.”
If Warner Music Group has its way, those millions of users could be left looking for somewhere else to “share their tastes” in the near future. Maybe a lucky few will get to talk it over with their new instructor, Flea.
