Studios Appeal File Trading to Top Court October 08, 2004 2:59:00 PM ET By Andy Sullivan http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/breaking/breakingnewsarticle.asp?feed=OBR&D ate=20041008&ID=4017694
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Movie studios and record labels on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that Internet ``peer to peer'' networks cannot be held liable when their users copy music and movies without permission. Dozens of entertainment-industry companies asked the court to reverse an appeals court decision that has prevented them from shutting down networks like Grokster and Morpheus that they say encourage millions of consumers to copy music and movies for free rather than buying them. The entertainment industry managed to shut down the first file-trading network, Napster. But Grokster and other networks that have sprung up in its wake claim their decentralized design prevents them from controlling user behavior. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in August that peer-to-peer networks can't be sued for copyright infringement because, like VCR manufacturers, their products can be used for legitimate purposes. ``These companies have expressly designed their businesses to avoid all legal liability, with the full knowledge that over 90 percent of the material traversing their applications belongs to someone else,'' said Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America. A spokesman for a trade group that represents Morpheus and other peer-to-peer networks said he didn't think the Supreme Court would overturn the decision. ``Historically, the Supreme Court has well understood that the overexpansion of the monopoly rights provided under copyright to content owners can and would interfere with other enormously important social values and commerce,'' said Adam Eisgrau, executive director of the trade group P2P United. The digital-media landscape has shifted significantly in the past several years. Napster has been resurrected by Roxio Inc. (ROXI) as an industry-sanctioned pay service, competing with Apple Computer Inc.'s (AAPL) iTunes and others that have sold millions of songs. But traffic on file-trading networks has continued to climb even as record labels have sued more than 5,000 users for copyright infringement. Hollywood has also lobbied Congress to broaden copyright laws. In end-of-session maneuvering, one measure that would hold peer-to-peer networks liable for user behavior appeared to be dead, but others that would specify a greater role for U.S. law enforcers appeared headed toward passage. � 2004 Reuters -- You are a subscribed member of the infowarrior list. Visit www.infowarrior.org for list information or to unsubscribe. This message may be redistributed freely in its entirety. Any and all copyrights appearing in list messages are maintained by their respective owners.
