Riaa Sues Mp3 Search Site, Says Napster Is "haven For Music Piracy'

WASHINGTON, D.C.-In the first lawsuit ever against an Internet search service and music site company, the Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) has filed suit against Napster of San Mateo, Calif., alleging the company is operating "as a haven for music piracy on an unprecedented scale."
The RIAA says that no other service on the Net has "generated as many calls of outrage from artists, managers, and artists' representatives and others representing the music community's interests" (BillboardBulletin, Dec. 8).
The trade group alleges that in addition to Napster making recordings of unknown artists available to users who log in to trade and download one another's MP3 files, "pirated copies of the recordings of every artist on the current Billboard charts can be located and downloaded from Napster."
The suit, filed Dec. 6 in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, charges Napster with contributory and vicarious infringement of copyright and related state laws. It seeks penalties of up to $10,000 per infringement.
Cary Sherman, RIAA senior executive VP/general counsel, says, "We contacted the company a number of times, including in writing. But the same recordings we advised Napster were infringing then are still available."
Napster is the first company the RIAA has sued for allegedly trafficking in unauthorized music. Napster posts a copyright policy disclaimer on its site saying if informed about possible infringement, it will "disable access or remove the allegedly infringing material" but adds, "It is the user's sole responsibility to comply with all federal and state laws."
Napster interim CEO Eileen Richardson, a venture capitalist, says she is "outraged" that the RIAA says out-of-court negotiations failed and believes that the trade group went after the company "because we're the hottest thing out there."
Richardson says that "our lawyers did try for 10 days to set the ground rules for settlement negotiations."