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# EMI Sues Grooveshark Again For Copyright Infringement And Contract Breach
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/emi-sues-grooveshark-for-copyright-infringement-and-contract-breach/
- Published: 2012-09-06T12:42:59.000Z
- Updated: 2012-09-06T12:42:59.000Z
- Description: The rough waters continue for Grooveshark today, as EMI has filed a new break of contract and copyright infringement lawsuit against the company. The lawsuit couldn’t come at a worse. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/09/emi-sues-grooveshark-for-copyright-infringement-and-contra
- Author: admin
- Tags: Major Labels, Streaming, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:49

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The rough waters continue  
for Grooveshark today, as **EMI has filed a new break of contract and copyright**  
**infringement lawsuit** against the company. The lawsuit couldn’t come at a worse  
time for the music service, in the wake of Google banning the Grooveshark  
Android app from the Google Play app marketplace (twice).

  
The suit was filed in a  
Manhattan federal court Thursday where EMI accused Grooveshark of falling behind  
in its monthly payments and failing to provide sales records after entering  
into a licensing agreement with the label in September of 2009\. EMI says they  
need the sales data to accurately know what to charge the service, and due to  
Grooveshark's failure to pay, the label terminated the deal back in March. Despite  
this, Grooveshark continued distributing and allowing users to share EMI  
catalog music.

"While we always  
strive to keep lines of communication open with rights holders, artists and all  
other interested parties, disagreements inevitably arise, as is true in any  
business, particularly one that is pushing for innovation and industry change,”  
Grooveshark said in a statement. "We remain confident that we will be able  
to resolve our dispute with EMI."

EMI says in the lawsuit  
that should the deal ever be terminated, Grooveshark agreed that their management  
would not invoke the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright  
Act, which protects web services from responsibility for the copyright violations  
committed by their users – provided of course that they meet the requirements  
of the provision.

"Grooveshark can't  
invoke the Safe Harbor," EMI said in its complaint. "It specifically  
agreed in the settlement agreement and distribution agreement that it would not  
permit or allow the exploitation of any EMI recordings unless there was an EMI  
content agreement in place."

Despite labels making several legal claims  
against Grooveshark over the years, the music service remains steadfast that  
they are DMCA compliant, claiming to act quickly in removing infringing works  
from their site when notified by copyright owners. Just how this contractual  
obligation with EMI affects Grooveshark's DMCA assertion is yet to be seen.

This all comes after a humiliating reversal by  
Google to ban the Grooveshark Anrdoid app yet again after being removed in 2011  
for violating its polices.

—

***Hisham Dahud*** *is a Senior Analyst for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is the head of Business Development for [Fame House](http://famehouse.net/?ref=hypebot.com) and an [independent musician](https://soundcloud.com/hishamdahud?ref=hypebot.com). Follow him on Twitter: [@HishamDahud](http://twitter.com/hishamdahud?ref=hypebot.com)*