Universal Music Group Sues Grooveshark

NEW YORK (Hypebot) – Universal Music Group is suing streaming music site Grooveshark for mass copyright violations. Last year EMI also sued Grooveshark, but later dropped the filing and began working with the site.

In the filing against parent company Escape Media, the world's largest label group claims that Grooveshark "uses the lure of free access" to draw web traffic which leads to money from advertising. UMG says that the site stores "copyrighted sound recordings on its own servers … and then distribute(s) copies of those recordings to the users." Grooveshark allegedly also "boasted" about targeting "the very segment of users that are bringing the labels to their knees with illegal downloading".

All the recordings named in the suit are pre-1972 and include Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, Cat Stevens, the Jackson Five and the Who.