After a lengthy legal battle between the record industry and P2P service LimeWire, the popular service is now under fire by indie musicians. A separate music industry trade group with a focus on independent musicians wants to make sure it gets paid while the RIAA collects monetary damages from LimeWire. 

The Merlin BV group, representing at least 12,000 indie music labels, has taken aim at LimeWire founder Mark Gorton and the shuttered P2P business. During the LimeWire-RIAA out-of-court settlement agreement in May, Merlin BV reportedly was supposed to collect some of the money. 

However, "the Lime Entities simply refused" to pay according to PC Magazine, and the group seeks "no less than the amount of the cash payment made to the major labels." Specifically, Merlin is looking for a sum in the neighborhood of $5 million from Gorton and LimeWire -- a monetary amount that they'll probably be awarded -- as the group first issued LimeWire with a cease and desist order in September 2008. 

The group waited more than two years after promising not to directly sue if the RIAA's labels were able to collect their money first. 

As part of its settlement with the copyright groups, LimeWire accepted its role in rampant copyright infringement among its users. Furthermore, the RIAA issued a statement and promised that musicians would be able to receive compensation, though it's a "decision for the individual plaintiffs." 

Former LimeWire users have moved on and found P2P services, BitTorrent, and other popular services available to users. Former LimeWire users were also informed that some of their sensitive personal information may have been published -- another major side effect related to P2P -- with the popular file sharing company also accepting responsibility for this problem.

There are multiple different P2P networks currently in use, and copyright groups have only targeted major programs. As of late, however, the federal government has become more involved with copyright enforcement and government-led crackdowns on organized piracy rings.  There will be an interesting continued battle between copyright groups and file sharers trying to stay one step ahead.