Screaming Penguin

Reprinted from the CPSR Mailing List:

http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50625,00.html

"In a stunning turnaround, a district court judge ruled Friday that the
five major record labels must prove they own thousands of music copyrights.
And prove those copyrights weren't used to monopolize and stifle the
distribution of digital music.

"If the labels can't prove ownership of the copyrights, they can't ask the
courts for damages for copyright infringement. That may not mean Napster is
in the clear. It depends on how the court rules on ownership of songs. For
instance, if the artists retain ownership it would be up to those artists
to make a deal with, or sue, companies like Napster.

"Patel saved her harshest words for the claim that the recording industry
used its ownership of music copyrights to control digital music
distribution. While dozens of online music companies folded over the last
two years, the major record labels were building their own services,
MusicNet and PressPlay.

"Napster lawyers have alleged the record industry withheld their copyrights
from digital music services until three of the major labels could launch
MusicNet. Once that service was launched, just days after Napster was shut
down, company could only obtain wildly restrictive licenses to sell music."

-H


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