Unforgiven: Metallica Sues Napster
By Tamara Conniff
Friday, April 14 2000
Friday, April 14 2000
Published on AllBusiness.com
Metallica has become the first major artist to file suit against a leading online company whose software allows Internet users to swap digital music files for free.
The veteran heavy metal band filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in California against Napster Inc., alleging copyright infringement, unlawful use of digital download software and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Also named as defendants are the University of Southern California, Yale and Indiana Universities, schools that the suit claims made the Napster site accessible through their computer networks.
According to the suit, Metallica is entitled to the maximum statutory damages of $100,000 for each musical work pirated. A band representative said Napster's Web site lists more than 100 Metallica tracks, including the unreleased song "I Disappear" from the upcoming film "Mission: Impossible 2."
Metallica, one of the world's most popular bands, is the first big-name act to take legal action against Napster, a move that could encourage other artists to follow suit.
Napster provides a free application via its Web site that allows users who are logged on to the Internet simultaneously to download MP3-formatted music files from one another at no cost. The company's servers don't actually host any files, but Napster provides access to music files on other people's computers.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based start-up company also faces litigation from the Recording Industry Association of America, which is accusing Napster of facilitating copyright infringement.
The Metallica suit alleges that Napster "encourages and enables visitors" to engage in the "unlawful exchange" of copyrighted music. As a result, "Napster's users are able to obtain the music they want for free," the suit states. "The copyright owners -- those rightfully entitled to profit from their music -- get nothing."
The universities named in the suit are accused of "knowingly sanctioning and encouraging its students to pirate (music) through its computer network" because the Napster Web site is accessible through the schools' networks.
Metallica and plaintiffs hope to invoke RICO, a set of federal conspiracy laws, because they argue that Napster and the universities are transferring stolen material across state lines. Historically, RICO was created as a tool to fight organized crime.
"With each project, we go through a grueling creative process to achieve music that we feel is representative of Metallica at that very moment in our lives," drummer Lars Ulrich told reporters Thursday. "It is therefore sickening to know that our art is being
The veteran heavy metal band filed suit Thursday in U.S. District Court in California against Napster Inc., alleging copyright infringement, unlawful use of digital download software and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Also named as defendants are the University of Southern California, Yale and Indiana Universities, schools that the suit claims made the Napster site accessible through their computer networks.
According to the suit, Metallica is entitled to the maximum statutory damages of $100,000 for each musical work pirated. A band representative said Napster's Web site lists more than 100 Metallica tracks, including the unreleased song "I Disappear" from the upcoming film "Mission: Impossible 2."
Metallica, one of the world's most popular bands, is the first big-name act to take legal action against Napster, a move that could encourage other artists to follow suit.
Napster provides a free application via its Web site that allows users who are logged on to the Internet simultaneously to download MP3-formatted music files from one another at no cost. The company's servers don't actually host any files, but Napster provides access to music files on other people's computers.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based start-up company also faces litigation from the Recording Industry Association of America, which is accusing Napster of facilitating copyright infringement.
The Metallica suit alleges that Napster "encourages and enables visitors" to engage in the "unlawful exchange" of copyrighted music. As a result, "Napster's users are able to obtain the music they want for free," the suit states. "The copyright owners -- those rightfully entitled to profit from their music -- get nothing."
The universities named in the suit are accused of "knowingly sanctioning and encouraging its students to pirate (music) through its computer network" because the Napster Web site is accessible through the schools' networks.
Metallica and plaintiffs hope to invoke RICO, a set of federal conspiracy laws, because they argue that Napster and the universities are transferring stolen material across state lines. Historically, RICO was created as a tool to fight organized crime.
"With each project, we go through a grueling creative process to achieve music that we feel is representative of Metallica at that very moment in our lives," drummer Lars Ulrich told reporters Thursday. "It is therefore sickening to know that our art is being
