Napster en RIAA terug in de rechtszaal

Op de website van Reuters is te lezen dat Napster en de Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) elkaar maandag opnieuw in de rechtszaal zullen treffen. Het gaat daarbij over de vraag hoe Napster moet voldoen aan de eisen van de RIAA over het stoppen van copyright-schendingen. Napster functioneert al sinds juli niet meer naar behoren door het filter dat het bedrijf moest instellen om het uitwisselen van illegale bestanden tegen te gaan. De nieuwe rechtszaak moet uitwijzen of Napster bestanden moet blokkeren aan de hand van de bestandsnaam of op basis van titel en artiest. Napster kiest voor de eerste optie, omdat er anders ook veel niet-illegale bestanden geblokkeerd zouden worden.

Both sides to the lawsuit, which remains widely watched as a defining case on intellectual property on the Internet, will go before a federal appeals court in Pasadena, California on Monday, to argue over how to share the burden for patrolling the Web site and pulling any copyright-protected songs.

[...] "The RIAA has contended it should not have to supply Napster with specific file names," said Matt Oppenheim, senior vice president of legal affairs for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The recording industry has also said that if Napster is aware that a copyright is being violated, it should not have to wait for industry notification to remove the song.

[...] "The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in February that the burden was to be shared by both parties," said Napster general counsel Jonathan Schwartz. "One of the key elements in this ruling was that the plaintiffs had to submit filenames. On this issue, we're asking that the court simply reaffirm its earlier ruling," he said.