January 4, 2001.

Melissa Williams has taken MP3-sharing-software maker Napster to court, suing the company for $10 million.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles Tuesday, claims that "Napster has built a business based on large-scale piracy. Napster is a worldwide Internet site, which encourages and enables visitors to its Web site to unlawfully exchange with each other MP3 files containing records created by and belonging to artists such as Williams. The end result of the process is that Napster's users are able to obtain the music they want for free. The copyright owners, those rightfully entitled to profit from their music, get nothing."

Already predisposed to be anti-Napster fan is Dr. Dre (who's suing the MP3-swapping-software company in conjunction with Metallica), Melissa is the latest victim of the software's ability to make music available for free download � even before the rest of the world can hear it. Virtually it is probably possible for her entire new album, All I Am � due in stores Feb. 6 � to be available on Napster in the comming weeks, and Melissa says it makes her angry enough to want to pay the company a visit and shut it down personally.

"I think that Napster company is bull," says Melissa, who's also had her home address and phone number revealed on the Internet before. I think that anybody who tries to make excuses for that is really among the best of the assholes in the world. I'm sorry; when I worked 9 to 5 as at my little neighborhood grocery stores, I expected to get a paycheck every week. It's the same with music; if I'm putting my heart and all my time into music, I expect to get rewarded for that. I work hard �and anybody can just throw a computer up and download my shit for free.

"That Napster-crap, if that gets any bigger, it could kill the whole purpose of making music. It's not just about the money �It's the thrill of going to the store; you can't wait till that artist's release date, taking the wrapper off the CD and putting the CD in to see what it sounds like. The Internet is taking the whole thrill away from that."

It's certainly clear that she'd rather not see any Napster execs at the backstage meet and greets during her 2001 tour with Blaque & Dream.

"I've seen those execs on TV, talking about [how] 'The working people should just get music for free,'" Melissa adds. "I've been a working person. I always bought and supported the artists that I liked. I always bought a Madonna CD, a Tupac CD, a Janet CD. If you can afford a computer, you can afford to pay $16 for my CD."
� Gary Graff