Judge in Napster Case Finds in Favor of Music Companies

Song-swapping site must remove all copyrighted music from its service by Friday.

Ashlee Vance, IDG News Service

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The judge has found in favor of the plaintiffs in the case against MP3 music-sharing company Napster, but only in terms of the recognition of the music companies' copyrights. The music companies are members of the industry body Recording Industry Association of America.

In a hearing here Wednesday afternoon, chief U.S. District Court judge Marilyn Hall Patel for the Northern District of California forbade the exchange or use of the music companies' copyrighted material by Napster or Napster users. She enumerated illegal activities conducted via Napster's music-distribution Web site such as using MP3 files, assisting in people using the files, and copying the files that the plaintiffs hold rights to.

"Napster is enjoined from doing the acts I've just described," Judge Patel said.

By midnight Friday Pacific Time, Napster will have to stop putting up the music companies' copyrighted material on its Web site, she ruled. Throughout the hearing, however, Napster insisted that the identification of material in relation to a specific copyright holder was impossible. In case of possible compensation due to Napster, Patel ordered the music companies to pay a $5 million bond.

Significant Harm to Publishers

The number of MP3 files that have already been downloaded from Napster's site and the number of current Napster users present a significant threat of irreparable harm to the music companies, and the time has come to issue an injunction, the judge said.

In support of her decision Patel cited estimates that as much as 80 percent of the material on Napster's site may be copyrighted, as well as the company's own predictions that it could have as many as 70 million users by the end of this year.

In its defense earlier Wednesday, Napster suggested that the technology companies that created MP3 should really be taken to task. Napster merely took advantage of the available technology, the company's lawyers said.

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