Judge rules in favor of Napster follow-ons
In a case that could turn the tide on online piracy, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson ruled in favor of online file-sharing services Grokster and Morpheus, saying the two companies are not liable for online piracy by users of their service. [CBS MarketWatch]
"Defendants distribute and support software, the users of which can and do choose to employ it for both lawful and unlawful ends," Wilson wrote in his opinion, released Friday. "Grokster and Streamcast are not significantly different from companies that sell home video recorders or copy machines, both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights." [c|net]
Professor Felten has Instant Analysis. As a result of this ruling, Felten believes that the cartel wil take their battle to congress where he predicts "that we'll see a bill circulated that creates an affirmative responsiblity to design products that make infringement as difficult as possible."
Matt Morse: "In other words, they have built their businesses around copyright infringement, but are not legally liable under current law."
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS, INC. v. GROKSTER, LTD. (April 25, 2003)
Decision Holding That File-Sharing Companies Grokster and Streamcast Networks (Morpheus) Are Not Liable For Contributory Copyright Infringement [pdf]
Comment on Slashdot discussion [via Furdlog] states "I know it's long read, but check out the decision. The best bits are:pg 11, lines 1-3; 24, 4-7; 26, 8-15; 31, 22 - 32, 26; 32, 25 - 33 2"
"Defendants distribute and support software, the users of which can and do choose to employ it for both lawful and unlawful ends," Wilson wrote in his opinion, released Friday. "Grokster and Streamcast are not significantly different from companies that sell home video recorders or copy machines, both of which can be and are used to infringe copyrights." [c|net]
Professor Felten has Instant Analysis. As a result of this ruling, Felten believes that the cartel wil take their battle to congress where he predicts "that we'll see a bill circulated that creates an affirmative responsiblity to design products that make infringement as difficult as possible."
Matt Morse: "In other words, they have built their businesses around copyright infringement, but are not legally liable under current law."
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS, INC. v. GROKSTER, LTD. (April 25, 2003)
Decision Holding That File-Sharing Companies Grokster and Streamcast Networks (Morpheus) Are Not Liable For Contributory Copyright Infringement [pdf]
Comment on Slashdot discussion [via Furdlog] states "I know it's long read, but check out the decision. The best bits are:
