LEGALESE BLONDE RIAA vs. NAPSTER Daniella Nero University of Hawaii at Manoa AMST 334 Sp-13
RIAA Recording Industry Association of America Background ▫Founded in 1952 ▫Trade organization representing the recording industry ▫Promotes creative and financial vitality of major music companies Concept ▫Protect intellectual property ▫Protect First Amendment Rights ▫Conduct research ▫Review state and federal law
NAPSTER Background ▫Site launched in 1999 ▫Founders were Shawn Fanning, John Fanning and Sean Parker ▫Program developed while in college, Northeastern University Concept ▫Peer-2-peer file sharing site ▫Sharing music in mp3 format ▫Search function made all music easily accessible ▫At its peak, in 2001, almost 30 million people used the service
LAWSUIT Plaintiff: RIAADefendant: Napster Lawsuit filed on December 7, 1999 Sued Napster for copyright infringement ▫Contributory ▫Vicarious Sought protection under DCMA At stake: ▫Future of Napster ▫Future of p2p file sharing ▫Relationship between new technologies, music, users and producers
OTHER OPINIONS 18 copyright law professors at American universities: “The decentralized model of peer-to-peer networking poses a significant challenge to sectors of the entertainment and information businesses that follow a model of centralized control over content distribution” From Appeal Nos and to the United States Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit D.J. Xealot “Napster is a great promotion tool that provides an affordable alternative to major labels for artists like myself” From “Policing the Internet” by Alan Marzilli, (p.49)
OUTCOME Case decided in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on February 12, 2001 Laws applied in the case: ▫17 USC section 501 (Copyright Infringement) ▫17 USC section 106 (Exclusive Rights in Copyrighted Works)
ETHICAL CONCLUSION Ethics Norms/Values Right/wrong Theft in a digital society Record companies/ users Utilitarian Approach Legally vs. ethically right
REFERENCES Law_Prof_Consortium idea-dot-dot-dot stnad&source=bl&ots=jzaB2GyVJj&sig=KBfGI9Ta1Nn19CVRlYiDDw_i1GI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=axdEUYjV POTgyQGR34HQAg&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBA Law_Prof_Consortium idea-dot-dot-dot stnad&source=bl&ots=jzaB2GyVJj&sig=KBfGI9Ta1Nn19CVRlYiDDw_i1GI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=axdEUYjV POTgyQGR34HQAg&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBA IMAGE CREDITS