Music industry representatives are using allegedly incriminating
e-mail and message board postings in an attempt to win a copyright
infringement case against file-swappers KaZaA, StreamCast Networks
(formerly MusicCity) and Grokster without going to a jury
trial.
Three organisations representing music publishers and record and movie companies this week filed a 67-page motion in a Los Angeles federal court seeking a judgment without trial.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) argue “that the massive vicarious and contributory copyright infringement facilitated by the Kazaa, Grokster and MusicCity services is abundantly clear and an accelerated ruling on the merits of the case is warranted.”
The arguments are that these companies:
- Built their networks to emulate Napster in almost every respect;
-
- Are earning millions of dollars from the service;
- Are acutely aware that the services are being used to facilitate copyright infringement on a massive scale for movies and music;
- and
- “Have been engaged in much more activity than merely distributing software as they claim. Rather, they were the genesis of and continue to be the sustainer of their networks.”
