LimeWire, once infamous for illegal music downloads, buys Fyre Festival brand for shocking $245,000

Once notorious for free music downloads, LimeWire acquires Fyre Festival brand for $245,000 promising revival

File-sharing platform LimeWire has purchased the intellectual property of the notorious Fyre Festival for $245,000, the companies announced this week. According to the Wall Street Journal, the sale was completed through eBay. Both brands, once synonymous with cultural notoriety, are now set to collaborate in a new venture.

LimeWire, which relaunched in 2022 under new leadership without its original founder Mark Gorton, said it plans to revitalize the Fyre Festival brand “with real experiences, credibility, and no cheese sandwiches,” referencing the catering fiasco of the 2017 festival. COO Marcus Feistl emphasized that the goal is not to replicate past mistakes but to leverage the brand’s meme status responsibly. The company has opened a waitlist and intends to provide additional details on its plans in the coming months.

Originally, LimeWire became one of the most popular platforms for downloading music illegally in the early 2000s but was forced to shut down in 2010 after losing a protracted legal battle with record labels. The company paid over $100 million in restitution for revenue lost due to unauthorized music downloads. Since its 2022 revival, LimeWire has positioned itself as a music-focused service incorporating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and its own cryptocurrency.

Fyre Festival’s co-founder Billy McFarland, who served four years in prison for fraud related to the original 2017 debacle, was released in 2022. He attempted to organize a second festival in Mexico in 2024, but the plans fell through. Earlier this year, McFarland listed the Fyre intellectual property for sale on eBay. LimeWire reportedly secured the brand after prior negotiations with McFarland had faltered.

The acquisition comes amid renewed cultural interest in Fyre Festival, with a planned musical about McFarland’s story reportedly set to be directed by Taika Waititi and a recent Visa advertisement referencing the original event.