Negotiating Through Lawsuit Continues: EMI Drops Lawsuit, Signs Deal With Grooveshark

from the all-in-the-negotiation dept

We’ve noticed a troubling trend in how legitimate online music services are being pressured into deals with the major record labels. The labels begin the negotiations on licenses… and then sue the company. That, of course, makes life difficult for the startup, which is then pressured to offer even better (read: ridiculously onerous) terms to the labels. We’ve seen it happen over and over again, and saw it happening when EMI sued Grooveshark this past summer. And, of course, a few months later, the lawsuit is dropped and a licensing deal has been reached, though you can bet the terms are not quite what Grooveshark originally intended. That’s what happens when part of the “negotiation” involves a lawsuit.

Filed Under: ,
Companies: emi, grooveshark

Rate this comment as insightful
Rate this comment as funny
You have rated this comment as insightful
You have rated this comment as funny
Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam
You have flagged this comment
The first word has already been claimed
The last word has already been claimed
Insightful Lightbulb icon Funny Laughing icon Abusive/trolling/spam Flag icon Insightful badge Lightbulb icon Funny badge Laughing icon Comments icon

Comments on “Negotiating Through Lawsuit Continues: EMI Drops Lawsuit, Signs Deal With Grooveshark”

Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment
8 Comments
Lawrence D'Oliveiro says:

In Other News...

… electrical power companies are getting upset with customers format-shifting their electricity into rechargeable batteries for use elsewhere. They are working on a DRM scheme whereby every individual volt and amp will be encrypted and digitally signed, so that only approved devices will be able to consume them.

They will be selling their own approved batteries. These will also be DRM-protected so they can only supply their protected power to approved devices.

Allan Masri (profile) says:

Goodbye, Grooveshark, hello...?

Too bad for EMI. Whatever they gave Grooveshark, it was too much. The technology still exists for another company to move in on EMI and force them to “negotiate” yet another deal. Why do small companies negotiate with big companies? Because it’s better to get a deal than defend a lawsuit until you bleed to death.

Add Your Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here

Comment Options:

Make this the or (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this?

What's this?

Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop »

Follow Techdirt

Techdirt Daily Newsletter

Ctrl-Alt-Speech

A weekly news podcast from
Mike Masnick & Ben Whitelaw

Subscribe now to Ctrl-Alt-Speech »
Techdirt Deals
Techdirt Insider Discord
The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...
Loading...