Grooveshark And The Inherent Problem With User-Generated Content (UGC)

It appears that Grooveshark is a platform that allows end-users to upload and share songs. The problem with that model (if early Napster didn’t teach us anything) is that while even if another end-user pays for the download; Grooveshark is still infringing on the copyright owner rights of reproduction and distribution. Further, one could argue that by allowing website visitors to stream the song before buying and downloading it; Grooveshark is also infringing on public performance rights. And that’s just the songwriter/publisher side. I do not believe Grooveshark is acquiring mechanical licenses for each song it allows to be purchased and downloaded; so they’ll also have a problem with the record labels.

I’m interested to see where this all goes. Read, “Grooveshark Signs an Agreement With the Largest Music Publisher In the World…” on Digital Music News website http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130828grooveshark