In the end, the court ruling is minimalistic but it’s all so “political” and controlled by the leaders of the court systems and not to mention the ties that some officials may have with the music industry. It’s hard living in this sad aftermath, but somewhat funny to see how hard the industry fought to keep their music off the net if they didn’t get a cut…
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Dissent: A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc
In the end, the court ruling is minimalistic but it’s all so “political” and controlled by the leaders of the court systems and not to mention the ties that some officials may have with the music industry. It’s hard living in this sad aftermath, but somewhat funny to see how hard the industry fought to keep their music off the net if they didn’t get a cut…
Argument: A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc
Rule of Law: A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc
“Conversely, Napster may be vicariously liable when it fails to affirmatively use its ability to patrol its system and preclude access to potentially infringing files listed in its search index. Napster has both the ability to use its search function to identify infringing musical recordings and the right to bar participation of users who engage in the transmission of infringing files. The preliminary injunction which we stayed is overbroad because it places on Napster the entire burden of ensuring that no "copying, downloading, uploading, transmitting, or distributing" of plaintiffs' works occur on the system. As stated, we place the burden on plaintiffs to provide notice to Napster of copyrighted works and files containing such works available on the Napster system before Napster has the duty to disable access to the offending content. Napster, however, also bears the burden of policing the system within the limits of the system. Here, we recognize that this is not an exact science in that the files are user named. In crafting the injunction on remand, the district court should recognize that Napster's system does not currently appear to allow Napster access to users' MP3 files.”
Motion denied because the allegedly infringing material did not pass through defendant's server to its users, but rather from one user to another; therefore, defendant did not meet the requirements of the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The previous quotes state the Rules of law and reasoning behind the courts final ruling. The main precedent is established as Napster’s direct accusation of infringement is null and is passed down to its users. Although Napster was not found “guilty,” they still need to be the ones to take full force in disabling their users from transferring copyrighted material.
Reasoning Of The Court: A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc
During the hearings, the courts found Napster to be the epicenter of copyright infringement. Holding it high on a pedestal as the leading trafficker of music, Napster was forced to abandon ship… or should we say put their Users on time-out. The ways of thinking in this instance were mostly of the catastrophic effect that Napster had on the music industry in general. All of the music that people pay for when walking into a record store were being easily downloaded, copied, burned, distributed for absolutely free at the click of a mouse. It’s obvious why the court would find Napster a substantial culprit to the downfall of the music industry, but the real battle here is pinning it to Napster itself. Fail. Napster itself could not be accused of the damages being done to the music industry or be held liable to copyright infringement... All of their users had checked the agreement box prior to installation of the Napster Peer2Peer sharing program and unknowingly relinquished all accusations towards Napster and put it all on themselves and their peers. It wasn’t Napster’s fault at all… http://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/cjoyce/copyright/release10/AMRecords.html “>“This court has determined above that Napster does not meet the requirements of subsection 512(a) because it does not [*30] transmit, route, or provide connections for allegedly infringing material through its system.” It was the users who were infringing, but not necessarily making a profit on it so the real trial and questions should be put forth on them… Which is still an ongoing dilemma and ever growing problem, but look at what we have now… iTunes at $0.99 a song… I guess that beats a jail sentence for copyright infringement, I’m sure users record companies are happy about this.
Decision: A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.
In the stated supreme court case, Napster was dropped of the charges claiming of the infringement towards the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Napster also does not relate directly to any form of financial obligation or liability to trade that is going on. “Even if there is direct copyright infringement, the elements of contributory copyright infringement & vicarious liability have not been shown.”In fact making some sort of profit for the items being traded would constitute infringement. Napster, Inc., did not make any. Napster was not in direct control of the trading going on between its users, thus the charges were dropped on Napster and focus was brought forth to Napster’s Users. “Napster users are not direct copyright infringers, because they are either covered by the immunity granted by the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) and/or their use is a fair use.” Despite the dropped charges, Napster was forced to stop their services to their users, concluded by Chief Judge, Marilyn Hall Patel, "For the foregoing reasons, the court GRANTS plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction against Napster, Inc. Defendant is hereby preliminarily ENJOINED from engaging in, or facilitating others in copying, downloading, uploading, transmitting, or distributing plaintiffs' copyrighted musical compositions and sound recordings, protected by either federal or state law, without express permission of the rights owner."
What I Think About The Supreme Court
The way I see it, the supreme court should monitor the changes in our nation's state of mind. The changes in thinking and the over all knowledge of our nation has changed and since the beginning of our nations constitution. It'd be best for the supreme court to take that in mind when dealing with the most extreme cases.
Don't get me wrong, the supreme court does what it can do to the best of its ability. All it needs is a little makeover.