Remember Alki David, the Internet entrepreneur whose broadcast TV streaming business was shut down by a federal judge after all of the networks sued his company, FilmOn.com, for copyright infringement? Now he’s filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against two CBS Corporation companies.
David, joined by some music artists, claim that CBS Interactive and CNET acted as the main distributors of LimeWire software and thus profited from “wide-scale copyright infringement.” Major record labels won a federal court order last October which barred distribution of the LimeWire peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software.
“Illegal file sharing through LimeWire has caused enormous damage to everyone who is trying to make a living in the entertainment community,” said David in announcing the lawsuit. “As more and more artists join this lawsuit, it will become the most significant copyright infringement lawsuit in history. My ultimate hope is that this lawsuit will ensure that huge corporations like CBS Interactive and CNET do not profit from these wrongful activities at the expense of hard-working artists.”
David claims damages because he produced a few films and TV shows, which you can find listed on Wikipedia (and none of which you will recognize). He has gotten a number of music artists to sign on as co-plaintiffs in his lawsuit against CBS. They include Detron Bendross of 2 Live Crew, Rome, Diamond Blue of Pretty Ricky, Trisco Smith from Force MDs and Coldhard representing Crucial Conflict.
Lime Wire LLC and Lime Group LLC are also named as defendants with CBS Interactive and CNET.
RBR-TVBR observation: You can always find a lawyer willing to file a lawsuit. That doesn’t mean you actually have a case. Want to bet whether David finds a reason to sue Disney, News Corporation and NBCUniversal as well?
