Court makes landmark ruling

SYDNEY – The Australian music industry yesterday welcomed a landmark court decision which ruled that the popular music file-swapping software Kazaa infringes artists’ copyright.

In a decision that followed nearly 10 months of court room battles, the Australian federal court stopped short of ordering Sharman Networks, the developers of Kazaa, to shut the system down. But it did order changes to the software, which allows users to swap free digital music files over the Internet in a so-called peer-to-peer (p2p) network.Sharman has said it will appeal the ruling.The court was acting on a suit, filed by five record labels – Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, Warner and Festival Mushroom – claiming the Kazaa technology facilitated copyright infringement on a vast scale.”The Kazaa system is an engine of copyright piracy to a degree of magnitude never before seen,” a lawyer for the labels, Tony Bannon, said when the trial opened last November.During the trial, which was closely watched by the music industry and Internet user groups worldwide, the court heard that more than 100 million people worldwide had downloaded Kazaa onto their computers to share files.The defendants argued that they had no control over how their technology was used, likening the p2p network to a photocopier or tape recorder.But Justice Murray Wilcox found that the effect of the Kazaa website “would be to encourage visitors to think it ‘cool’ to defy the record companies by ignoring copyright constraints”.”Sharman had power to prevent, or at least substantially reduce, the incidence of copyright file-sharing,” he said.”Yet Sharman did nothing; even when it introduced KMD v3 (the latest version of the software) one week before commencement of the trial.”Sharman always knew users were likely to share files that were subject to copyright,” he said, adding that it would have been aware this was “a major, even the predominant, use of the Kazaa system”.He ordered Sharman to pay 90 per cent of the record companies’ legal costs.Music industry spokesman Michael Speck said the judgment was “one of the most important achievements in the fight against music piracy anywhere”.”The court’s decision confirms that people cannot build a business on stealing the creative work of others and profiting from it,” he said in a statement.”This judgment explodes the myth that illegal file sharing is simply part of the ‘internet revolution’.It is nothing of the sort, and the court’s ruling confirms that people who misuse technology should not be able to profit from the creative work of others.”-Nampa-AFPCourt makes landmark ruling SYDNEY – The Australian music industry yesterday welcomed a landmark court decision which ruled that the popular music file-swapping software Kazaa infringes artists’ copyright.In a decision that followed nearly 10 months of court room battles, the Australian federal court stopped short of ordering Sharman Networks, the developers of Kazaa, to shut the system down.But it did order changes to the software, which allows users to swap free digital music files over the Internet in a so-called peer-to-peer (p2p) network.Sharman has said it will appeal the ruling.The court was acting on a suit, filed by five record labels – Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, Warner and Festival Mushroom – claiming the Kazaa technology facilitated copyright infringement on a vast scale.”The Kazaa system is an engine of copyright piracy to a degree of magnitude never before seen,” a lawyer for the labels, Tony Bannon, said when the trial opened last November.During the trial, which was closely watched by the music industry and Internet user groups worldwide, the court heard that more than 100 million people worldwide had downloaded Kazaa onto their computers to share files.The defendants argued that they had no control over how their technology was used, likening the p2p network to a photocopier or tape recorder.But Justice Murray Wilcox found that the effect of the Kazaa website “would be to encourage visitors to think it ‘cool’ to defy the record companies by ignoring copyright constraints”.”Sharman had power to prevent, or at least substantially reduce, the incidence of copyright file-sharing,” he said.”Yet Sharman did nothing; even when it introduced KMD v3 (the latest version of the software) one week before commencement of the trial.”Sharman always knew users were likely to share files that were subject to copyright,” he said, adding that it would have been aware this was “a major, even the predominant, use of the Kazaa system”.He ordered Sharman to pay 90 per cent of the record companies’ legal costs.Music industry spokesman Michael Speck said the judgment was “one of the most important achievements in the fight against music piracy anywhere”.”The court’s decision confirms that people cannot build a business on stealing the creative work of others and profiting from it,” he said in a statement.”This judgment explodes the myth that illegal file sharing is simply part of the ‘internet revolution’.It is nothing of the sort, and the court’s ruling confirms that people who misuse technology should not be able to profit from the creative work of others.”-Nampa-AFPBut it did order changes to the software, which allows users to swap free digital music files over the Internet in a so-called peer-to-peer (p2p) network.Sharman has said it will appeal the ruling.The court was acting on a suit, filed by five record labels – Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, Warner and Festival Mushroom – claiming the Kazaa technology facilitated copyright infringement on a vast scale.”The Kazaa system is an engine of copyright piracy to a degree of magnitude never before seen,” a lawyer for the labels, Tony Bannon, said when the trial opened last November.During the trial, which was closely watched by the music industry and Internet user groups worldwide, the court heard that more than 100 million people worldwide had downloaded Kazaa onto their computers to share files.The defendants argued that they had no control over how their technology was used, likening the p2p network to a photocopier or tape recorder.But Justice Murray Wilcox found that the effect of the Kazaa website “would be to encourage visitors to think it ‘cool’ to defy the record companies by ignoring copyright constraints”.”Sharman had power to prevent, or at least substantially reduce, the incidence of copyright file-sharing,” he said.”Yet Sharman did nothing; even when it introduced KMD v3 (the latest version of the software) one week before commencement of the trial.”Sharman always knew users were likely to share files that were subject to copyright,” he said, adding that it would have been aware this was “a major, even the predominant, use of the Kazaa system”.He ordered Sharman to pay 90 per cent of the record companies’ legal costs.Music industry spokesman Michael Speck said the judgment was “one of the most important achievements in the fight against music piracy anywhere”.”The court’s decision confirms that people cannot build a business on stealing the creative work of others and profiting from it,” he said in a statement.”This judgment explodes the myth that illegal file sharing is simply part of the ‘internet revolution’.It is nothing of the sort, and the court’s ruling confirms that people who misuse technology should not be able to profit from the creative work of others.”-Nampa-AFPCourt makes landmark ruling SYDNEY – The Australian music industry yesterday welcomed a landmark court decision which ruled that the popular music file-swapping software Kazaa infringes artists’ copyright.In a decision that followed nearly 10 months of court room battles, the Australian federal court stopped short of ordering Sharman Networks, the developers of Kazaa, to shut the system down.But it did order changes to the software, which allows users to swap free digital music files over the Internet in a so-called peer-to-peer (p2p) network.Sharman has said it will appeal the ruling.The court was acting on a suit, filed by five record labels – Universal, EMI, Sony BMG, Warner and Festival Mushroom – claiming the Kazaa technology facilitated
copyright infringement on a vast scale.”The Kazaa system is an engine of copyright piracy to a degree of magnitude never before seen,” a lawyer for the labels, Tony Bannon, said when the trial opened last November.During the trial, which was closely watched by the music industry and Internet user groups worldwide, the court heard that more than 100 million people worldwide had downloaded Kazaa onto their computers to share files.The defendants argued that they had no control over how their technology was used, likening the p2p network to a photocopier or tape recorder.But Justice Murray Wilcox found that the effect of the Kazaa website “would be to encourage visitors to think it ‘cool’ to defy the record companies by ignoring copyright constraints”.”Sharman had power to prevent, or at least substantially reduce, the incidence of copyright file-sharing,” he said.”Yet Sharman did nothing; even when it introduced KMD v3 (the latest version of the software) one week before commencement of the trial.”Sharman always knew users were likely to share files that were subject to copyright,” he said, adding that it would have been aware this was “a major, even the predominant, use of the Kazaa system”.He ordered Sharman to pay 90 per cent of the record companies’ legal costs.Music industry spokesman Michael Speck said the judgment was “one of the most important achievements in the fight against music piracy anywhere”.”The court’s decision confirms that people cannot build a business on stealing the creative work of others and profiting from it,” he said in a statement.”This judgment explodes the myth that illegal file sharing is simply part of the ‘internet revolution’.It is nothing of the sort, and the court’s ruling confirms that people who misuse technology should not be able to profit from the creative work of others.”-Nampa-AFP