The music industry has reached a settlement with LimeWire, concluding a nine-month legal battle. Eight music publishers including EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner joined forces last June to accuse the peer-to-peer filesharing service of knowingly and deliberately infringing copyrighted material.
The National Music Publishers Association originally sought $150,000 for each song shared illegally on LimeWire, which would have easily racked up to hundreds of millions of dollars or more. It's unclear how much, if any cash will trade hands in the settlement as the terms haven't been made public.
A spokeswoman for the publishers has simply said that both sides have "worked hard to achieve a settlement that is a good result for all involved." The court filing also revealed that each party will pay for its own legal fees, so perhaps things haven't ended too poorly on LimeWire's end.
LimeWire founder Mark Gorton was found guilty of copyright infringement, induced copyright infringement, and unfair competition last May in a suit against the recording industry. The service was shut down in October and is still defending itself from more than $1 billion in claimed damages.