Legal

Orchard wins Imeem litigation, but is unlikely to see damages

By | Published on Tuesday 5 January 2010

Independent digital distributor The Orchard won its copyright infringement case against Imeem over the Christmas break, though it seems unlikely they’ll see much of the $1.77 million in damages they were awarded, given the collapse of the music-based social network.

Imeem, of course, went under last month amid spiralling licensing debts and the mounting legal costs and risks associated with the Orchard litigation, which actually related to the alleged infringement of copyrights owned by TVT Recordings, the record label acquired by the digital distributor in 2008. With Imeem basically in liquidation no representative was sent to the court hearing relating to the Orchard legal claim, meaning the plaintiff won by default.

Those aspects of the Imeem business not acquired by MySpace Music last month are now in the hands of the company’s creditors. As previously reported, MySpace’s purchase of various bits of Imeem’s assets specifically avoided them taking on any of the collapsed company’s liabilities, so it is unlikely The Orchard will ever see any of their damages. And even if some legal beagle reckoned the US courts might imply some liability on MySpace as a result of their Imeem deal, it is unlikely The Orchard would want to fight the social networking major, given their streaming music service is an important licensee of the digital catalogue it represents.



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