| Over the last year and a half the Internet company, Napster has caused a large stir in the copyright community. Napster is a program that uses the Internet to allow users to exchange mp3 files with each other. Napster does not store any files on its servers, but rather just connects users with each other as if one computer was just picking up a song from another computer. Many musicians and their companies, such as Metallica and Dr. Dre have blamed Napster for causing them to lose profits due to the free distribution of their music. The argument between Napster and the musicians continues however it seems to be ending.
The courts have entered the argument between the two sides and at one time Napster was told to be shut down until the argument would be resolved. However, Napster filed an appeal and remained open and available to users. Napster’s argument for what they do is that their program allows users to share songs with each other, just as if someone was lending their cd to a friend. However, the music business sees this as copying a cd for a friend so that he or she does not go out and buy the cd. Another point that Napster includes is that they allow unknown musicians to be heard by download from Napster when they otherwise would not have an opportunity to be heard by the public.
The music industry feels that Napster is hurting their profits. They feel that with Napster gone, they would make a lot more money. They feel that Napster is going against copyright laws by distributing their music without permission. However, Napster feels as though they do not distribute music, rather allowing others to share with each other. Napster feels that their users should be punished for sharing songs illegally if Napster is to be punished themselves.
Napster does not seem fair to the music industry. All the work that the musicians put into their music is being given away for free on the internet and Napster isn’t helping their cause. It seems as if Napster is cheating money away from the musicians and cheating is not fair.
Technology is creating problems for copyright laws. People are using the Internet to give products away when they are not allowed. It is taking too long for laws to be passed that can contain the advances of technology and the effect they have on copyrights. Slowly, laws are being passed to prevent sites such as Napster from promoting illegal activity on the Internet.
Certain universities have banned Napster from their servers. Far too many students were using Napster and caused the servers to overload. The music industry used these universities as an example of the large number of people who use Napster and take away from the sales of their music.
Metallica decided to take legal action against Napster for the illegal distribution of their music. Metallica asked Napster to stop distributing their music and due to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Napster complied and disabled the users that Metallica had identified. Dr. Dre decided to take similar actions against Napster as well. These lawsuits started an entourage of lawsuits against Napster.
Due to the legal problems that Napster is facing, Napster has very recently decided to make a change in its business. Napster has made a partnership with Bertelsmann so that they can move forward. Their new service will allow Napster to compensate artists and resolve the legal dispute that they are having with the courts. Napster is deciding on a way to receive a fee from their users so that they can compensate the music industry. They are going to make an enhanced service that they will charge a small membership fee and will still continue their free service as well. Napster also feels that this deal will help them in their battle in fighting against the courts. They believe that the battle is not over and that file sharing from person to person is legal.
Even though Napster seems to have lost its ability for free file sharing between its users, other companies like Napster are learning from Napster’s mistakes. They are creating file-sharing services that cannot be sent to court and are legal. Although it seems as if Napster has lost the war in file sharing, they are actually helping others gain the knowledge of legally file sharing.
I personally feel that Napster is hurting the music industry in their profits but not by very much. I myself use Napster frequently, however, if Napster is taken away, I would just find another way to get music for free off the internet or I can just burn music from my friends’ cds. The only way to prevent this copyright infringement is to figure out a technology that prevents the movement of music files. Technology must be invented to prevent our current technology from hurting us.
Bibliography
www.napster.com/pressroom/qanda.html
www.music.zdnet.com/news/2000_05_05_nap.html
www.msnbc.com/news/4321202.asp
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