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The Rice Thresher
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by OLIVIA ALLISON THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Rock band Metallica accused Napster and three universities of copyright infringement in a lawsuit filed April 13. Similarly, rapper Dr. Dre demanded in a letter Monday that Napster remove all of his music from its directory by today. Napster is a software program released last year that allows users to exchange MP3s. Mpeg layer 3 is an audio file compression format that allows audio files to retain close to their original sound quality while significantly decreasing the amount of disk space they require. Howard King, lawyer for both Metallica and Dr. Dre, told Reuters that he has been contacted by at least 10 artists or managers and a major publishing company within the past week about pursuing Napster either in connection with the Metallica lawsuit or in separate lawsuits. He said he expects other lawsuits to emerge in coming weeks. A press release from Metallica, E/M Ventures and Creeping Death Music stated that these three organizations are the copyright owners of sound recordings and musical compositions created by Metallica and therefore possess the exclusive right to commercially distribute their songs. This suit alleges that the University of Southern California, Indiana University, Yale University and Napster unlawfully used digital audio interface devices, violating the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The RICO Act was originally intended to prosecute organized crime, but the act has recently been used in increasing numbers of civil lawsuits as well. The suit states that the defendants have violated the law by enabling Napster software users to unlawfully exchange copyrighted songs and sound recordings without first notifying copyright-holders. Napster is not currently commenting on specifics of the lawsuit, according to Lauren Friedman, a spokesperson for Napster's public relations firm. However, in a statement issued April 13, Napster's Acting Chief Executive Officer Eileen Richardson said Napster did not intend to violate copyright laws. "It has never been Napster's intention to belittle the importance of artistic production, and we are very passionate about helping bands understand the value of what we offer," Richardson said. King said he believes his client will be awarded millions of dollars in damages. King said the officials at the universities targeted have publicly stated that they knew Napster could be used for illegal purposes but decided not to take action. Vice President for Public Affairs at Indiana University Christopher Simpson said that Indiana originally blocked Napster but later made it available again. Simpson said they received the suit early this week and that the university would probably have a response by today. King said other schools could be added later as defendants in the suit. "We have drafted it completely in a way that allows us to add defendants," he said. Yale does not believe it has any liability to Metallica under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Yale Deputy Director for Public Affairs Tom Conroy said. "We provide access to the Internet - we don't control how people use it," he said. "We believe we're a service provider under the act." The Digital Millennium Copyright Act limits liability for online service providers if the storage of information on the network is at the direction of the users, according to the U.S. Copyright Office's summary of the act. King also said Yale and USC were particularly targeted because they have strong dramatic arts departments, and it is ironic that they are choosing to support a Web site that could undermine the future monetary success of their graduates. King said although he expects the suit against Napster to go through the entire court process, he feels that the case against USC, Indiana and Yale might be dropped if the universities ban Napster soon. "I think if the universities drop Napster [soon], clients would be favorably inclined to consider dropping the case," King said. Conroy said Napster will be banned at Yale until the issue has been resolved. "We were blocking Napster at certain times of day to reduce network congestion, and until we can clarify certain issues concerning Napster, it will not be accessible," Conroy said. King said Tuesday that no court date had yet been set. He said Metallica first learned of potential problems with Napster in December, when the Recording Industry Association of America, which includes such record labels as Interscope, Sony, MCA and Motown, filed suit. The suit is proceeding in a federal court in San Francisco but is still pending because the court is waiting for a decision on the RIAA's request to preliminarily shut down Napster. "Depending on the decision in that court, Napster could be banned from operating," King said. William Deigaard, Rice's director of New Media and Student Computing, said he expects the lawsuit to define whether universities will be held responsible for students' use of Internet service provided through the university. "We're all going to watch this Metallica suit with great interest because it will give precedent for this kind of thing," Deigaard said. "Students are not traditionally thought of as agents of a university, so suing Rice over something students are doing is not something that would normally happen." The reason Napster, and not other MP3 sharing programs like iMesh and Gnutella, is being targeted, Deigaard said, is that it has been shown to be blockable, unlike the others. Deigaard said he is a little worried about the potential legal action against Rice, but he does not believe it will happen. "I'm glad we blocked Napster," Deigaard said. "I would say we're not in the sights of the RIAA or Metallica. Suing Rice is not as exciting as suing Yale." Deigaard also said the RIAA seems to be more concerned about the larger issue of illegal MP3 trading, while Metallica is more concerned about MP3 trading specifically related to their music. "Napster is just a tool people use to share MP3s, and the RIAA cares about MP3s being shared just as much as Metallica," Deigaard said. "Metallica is more like the small businessman out there who says, 'Damn it, I'm getting screwed. I'm going to lash back.' And they get a lot of press." - back - |
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