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File sharing goes before Supreme Court |
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Thursday, 17 February 2005 |
File sharing goes before Supreme Court
CNN International
On March 29, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., a closely-watched case
involving peer-to-peer file sharing - a process in which people send or receive
music or movies over the Internet.
The most famous peer-to-peer file sharing site was, of course, Napster. However,
after a number of rounds of litigation, Napster has now been transformed into a
site that, for a monthly payment, allows only legal downloads of music (that is,
downloads of copyright music for which a license has been granted).
Other sites, however, continue to offer peer-to-peer file sharing software
despite the fact that one of its uses is to pirate copyrighted music and movies
-- and Grokster is one such site.
The Court's ultimate decision in MGM v. Grokster is very likely to be one of the
landmarks of this term.
The allegations in the case
The list of plaintiffs in the case is a virtual "Who's who" of influential
Hollywood record and film companies. The defendants in the case are Grokster and
StreamCast Networks -- which provide software that allows peer-to-peer file
sharing of music and movies on personal computers.
According to the plaintiffs, more than 90 percent of the files that are actually
exchanged using the software consist of copyrighted material that the swapper --
that is, the person who makes files available for download on his or her
computer -- has no right to distribute. For this reason, the plaintiffs -- who
say they own the lion's share of the copyrights at issue -- seek whopping
damages against Grokster and StreamCast.
Their theory of liability holds that Grokster and StreamCast are responsible for
the software users' copyright infringement -- either because they contribute to
users' infringement, or because the infringement is, in effect, their own. These
two varieties of infringement are called "contributory" and "vicarious"
infringement, respectively.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 February 2005 )
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