Internet Archive Faces Copyright Lawsuit over 'Myspace Dragon Hoard'

4 days ago

The Internet Archive (IA) preserves digital history, including web pages via the Wayback Machine and unique projects like Myspace content.
In 2019, Myspace lost 50 million songs from 14 million artists due to a server migration failure.
An anonymous academic group provided IA with 490,000 Myspace songs (2008-2010), later dubbed the 'Myspace Dragon Hoard'.
The collection was uploaded to archive.org for free streaming and downloading, alongside a companion site, lostmyspace.com.
Musician Anthony Martino sued IA in 2023, alleging copyright infringement over his songs in the Dragon Hoard and digitized CD materials.
Martino seeks up to $8.85M in damages, while IA argues for minimal damages, citing innocent infringement and DMCA safe harbor protections.
IA denies direct involvement in uploading the collection, attributing it to anonymous researchers, and disputes Martino's revocable license claims.
The case is set for trial, with discovery ongoing and a tentative trial date in April 2027.
IA previously settled a lawsuit with major music labels over digitizing gramophones.

Hasty Briefsbeta