Universal Music Group said on Tuesday it filed lawsuits against online video sharing sites Grouper and Bolt for allowing users to swap pirated versions of its musicians’ videos.
Universal, whose artists include U2, Mary J Blige and Mariah Carey, said it is seeking damages up to as much as $150,000 for each incident of copyright infringement plus costs. It estimated that thousands of music videos were being viewed on both sites, to their benefit alone.
“Grouper and Bolt… cannot reasonably expect to build their business on the backs of our content and the hard work of our artists and songwriters without permission and without compensating the content creators,” a Universal spokesman said.
The lawsuits were filed late on Monday at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Western Division.
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