Napster Responds To Shutdown Request

Tue., July 4, 2000

From Staff

Napster Inc. filed court documents Monday saying the company should not be shut down because users of its popular song-swapping software are protected by federal law that allows copying music for personal use.

“I don’t know of any case that holds that the noncommercial sharing, one-to-one, from one consumer to another, is unlawful,” Napster attorney David Boies said in a telephone conference call with reporters.

Napster’s brief, filed in U.S. District Court, responds to The Recording Industry Association of America’s request for a preliminary injunction to shut down Napster until the association’s lawsuit against the San Mateo, Calif., company is resolved.

The recording industry group sued Napster on behalf of its members in December. The suit alleges that Napster’s service aids large-scale copyright infringement by allowing users to search for and trade music for free using the company’s MusicShare software.

Napster claims to have more than 15 million users.

Boies maintains that the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 allows those users to copy music for personal use. Napster argues that the company merely provides a directory to those legally copied songs.

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Napster Responds To Shutdown Request

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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