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Labels owned by all the major groups - Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI and Warner Music - haved filed their suit in a Manhattan court, reports Reuters.

According to the news

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agency, the lawsuit seeks a massive $150,000 in damages for every song infringed by LimeWire. The action names the company Lime Group LLC, but also its chief executive and chief operating officer. The complaint alleges they have profited from the illicit downloads of music.

It is not the first time that LimeWire has been drawn into music download litigation. In the past however, the litigation has involved individual users - see Brits pay up over file-sharing allegations, for example - but this time the company itself is targeted.

The move follows in the wake of KaZaA settling for a legitimate future. In a landmark settlement, the company behind the file-sharing network KaZaA, Sharman Networks, settled its legal dispute with the entertainment industry for $100m (£53m). It agreed to rid its network of pirate material and go legit.