Now that Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has launched its iCloud music service, it’s going to be scanning a whole lot of users’ music files. So what is the company—and its music-industry partners—going to do about the fact that much of that music wasn’t legally purchased? 

The U.S. record industry has finally exacted its tribute from Limewire, the file-sharing service that was in operation for a decade and allowed millions of users to illegally trade songs. Lawyers from the two sides reached a settlement mid-trial today, under which Limewire and its founder, Mark Gorton, will pay…

The defunct file-sharing service Limewire is facing off with the record labels this week in front of a New York jury, and reports from the courtroom are relaying passionate arguments on both sides. The record label want to get a damage verdict greater than $1 billion, and Limewire will be…

The Limewire file-sharing service was shut down last year, and the only thing left now is to figure out how much money the now-illegal service owes the record labels that first sued it back in 2006. The judge overseeing the case made two key rulings this week that strongly favor…

The recording industry sued thousands of individual file-sharers in an unprecedented campaign of lawsuits that began in 2003; but only two of those cases ever went to trial. Both resulted in large damage awards against the accused downloader. Now, one of the cases is on appeal, and defendant Joel Tenenbaum’s…

Limewire has been locked in a copyright battle with the big record labels since 2006. In May of last year, the peer-to-peer file-sharing service effectively lost its case when a federal judge ruled it was liable for copyright infringement. A month after that key decision was handed down, a large…

Google’s Android Marketplace, now home to more than 100,000 mobile apps, has fast become the top competitor to Apple’s App Store. But unlike Apple’s store, Android apps aren’t subject to extensive review before they’re made available in the store. Google’s more open system for uploading apps has led to a…

After a four year battle, the only issue remaining in the record labels’ lawsuit against the Limewire file-sharing network is the battle over damages. And it’s turning out to be a big fight, with dozens of documents filed in the last week alone. Now, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and MySpace (NSDQ: NWS)…

To fill the key legal post of Solicitor General, the Obama administration has turned to a lawyer with deep entertainment-industry roots who has taken on some of the industry’s toughest copyright battles. The nominee, Donald Verrilli, is best known for having buried the Grokster file-sharing service at the Supreme Court.…

The record labels’ lawsuit against the Limewire file-sharing service is nearing its final stage—a January trial has been set to calculate the damages. But as the lawyers prepare for that trial, the lawsuit has taken a surprising turn, with the judge asking the record labels for some new information. It…

The “first sale” doctrine in copyright law limits the rights of copyright holders to sue for infringement after they’ve sold their work—it allows for used and re-sale markets in books and DVDs, as well as library lending. In Costco v. Omega, a Supreme Court case argued earlier this week, the…

Only four jury verdicts have ever been rendered in cases involving peer-to-peer file-sharing—and one woman, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, has been the defendant in three of them.

Now that a court injunction has shut down the LimeWire file-sharing service, the only thing left for LimeWire lawyers to do is argue for lower damages—and that’s looking like an uphill battle.

The RIAA has won a nearly two-year-old copyright infringement suit against news-sharing and communication network Usenet.com; the verdict comes on the heels of a similar win against file-sharer Jammie Thomas (to the tune of $1.92 million). In 2007, the RIAA accused Usenet (a precursor to social networks like Facebook and…

After years of engaging in a largely futile campaign of lawsuits against illegal file-sharers, the Recording Industry Association of America is giving up that tactic. Instead, the RIAA hopes to enlist the help of broadband ISPs to stop music pirates from giving away copyrighted material, WSJ reported. The record label…