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 News Feb 13-01
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Feb 13 - 2001
NAPSTER RULING IN
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that Napster knew its users were violating copyright laws, but has allowed the service to continue operating until a lower court redrafts its injunction. Napster must lock out those users who exchange copyrighted songs without permission as they are infringing on the copyright holders' rights to control the reproduction and distribution of their music.
The appeals court, however, did say that the scope of the preliminary injunction issued last July was "overbroad" and must be redrawn.
Here is the official Metallica Statement:
"From day one our fight has always been to protect the rights of artists who chose not to have their music exploited without consent. The court's decision validates this right and confirms that Napster was wrong in taking not only Metallica's music but other artists who do not want to be a part of the Napster system and exploiting it without their approval.
We are delighted that the Court has upheld the rights of all artists to protect and control their creative efforts. The 9th Circuit Court has confirmed that musicians, songwriters, filmmakers, authors, visual artists and other members of the creative community are entitled to the same copyright protections online that they traditionally been afforded offline.
We have never objected to the technology, the internet or the digital distribution of music. All we have ever asked is that artists be able to control how, when and in what form their creativity is distributed through these channels. This is something that Napster has continually refused to do. Now the court has made that decision for them."
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