RIAA also suing Megaupload for copyright infringement

Entertainment is prone to illegal intellectual property activity due to its ability to be made readily available online. It was recently reported that the Motion Picture Association of America sued file sharing site Megaupload and founder Kim Dotcom for copyright infringement. Now, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is bringing its own lawsuit against the website.

One purpose of the RIAA is to protect recording companies from situations like widespread intellectual property violations, so it is not a surprise that they are issuing their own lawsuit. Although federal prosecutors shut the Megaupload site down in 2012, the MPAA and RIAA have both decided to file lawsuits for massive alleged damages.

The record companies included in the lawsuit are Sony Music, Capitol Records, Warner Music and UMG Recordings. Like the MPAA suit, the RIAA alleges that Dotcom and Megaupload engaged in willful infringement of copyrighted material.

Before the US Justice Department shut it down in 2012, Megaupload worked by allowing users to store files in a cloud storage "locker," where they could then share this content with other users. Much of this content included copyrighted material such as music and movies. Megaupload charged users a fee for access to this service. It is alleged that Dotcom made a $175 million profit from running the site. According to a CNet article, Kim Dotcom could face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

Copyright violations can have severe consequences. Whether it's on a file sharing website or your own website, uploading and downloading someone else's copyrighted material for your own profit is illegal and could result in a lawsuit. It's important for business owners to consult a small business attorney to ensure compliance with copyright.  

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

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