Internet File-Sharing Service Is Sued by Music Publishers

A coalition of eight music publishers sued the file-sharing service LimeWire on June 16, accusing it of copyright infringement, according to the National Music Publishers' Association, the industry group that organized the suit.

The lawsuit comes after a federal judge's ruling last month in a similar case brought by record companies that LimeWire and its creator, Mark Gorton, were liable for copyright infringement. David Israelite, chief executive of the publishers' association, said his organization had decided to bring the complaint because most publishers were not represented in the record company lawsuit and they were now confident that they had a winning case. The suit says that the "knowing and deliberate infringement is massive, as is the harm."