Music publishers win $6.6 million in LiveUniverse lawsuit

Here’s a cautionary tale to anyone thinking of posting unlicensed song lyrics on their homepage: A U.S. district court judge has ruled that Web operator LiveUniverse Inc. must fork over $6.6 million in damages to music publishers for posting copyrighted lyrics without permission of songs including David Bowie’s “China Girl,” Van Morrison’s “Moondance” and Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends.”

That’s according to a statement released Thursday by Arent Fox IP, a firm representing a group of music publishers involved in the lawsuit. The statement refers to a decision in the matter that was handed down Oct. 10 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

LiveUniverse is owned by Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan, a co-founder of MySpace.

It’s uncertain how the ruling, described as the first of its kind, eventually may affect similar music-lyric websites.

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