Artists and Publishers Seek P2P Infringement Ruling

[Seth Johnson <seth.johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-------- Original Message --------
   Date: Sat, 30 Nov 2002 11:19:11 -0000
  From: "Rifat Qureshi" <rifatq@xxxxxxx>
     To: "Pho List" <pho@xxxxxxxxxxxx>


National Music Publishers' Association Announces Songwriters
and Music  Publishers Seek Infringement Ruling Against
Unlicensed Peer-to-Peer Music Services


> http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/021129/292127_1.html


LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2002-- Songwriters
and music publishers  will take center stage Monday in
Federal Court to argue before U.S. District Judge Stephen
V.  Wilson that the operators of three unlicensed Internet
music services - Kazaa, MusicCity, and  Grokster - are
liable for infringing copyrights in musical compositions.
The three defendants  have been operating their on-line
music services as early as mid-2000, resulting in billions
of  music files being made available and downloaded without
any compensation whatsoever to  the songwriters and music
publishers. 

Expected in attendance in the courtroom are legendary
songwriters Lamont Dozier - part of the  songwriting team
Holland-Dozier-Holland, that wrote internationally acclaimed
songs including  "Stop! In the Name of Love", "Where Did Our
Love Go", Reach Out, I'll Be There", and "How  Sweet it is
(To Be Loved By You)"; and Mike Stoller, who along with
co-author Jerry Leiber  penned such renowned rock-and-roll
classics as "Jailhouse Rock", "Hound Dog," "Stand By  Me",
"On Broadway", and "Kansas City." Both are plaintiffs in the
litigation. 

For the better part of this year, the songwriters and music
publishers have been engaged in  extensive discovery against
the defendants, culminating in the filing of summary
judgment  motions this past fall intended to establish
conclusively the defendants' liability for copyright 
infringement. 

"From the very beginning, this lawsuit has been about
protecting the rights of music creators  from flagrant
piracy," said Edward P. Murphy, President, National Music
Publishers'  Association, Inc. "As the legitimate market for
online music develops, it is also about  fundamental
fairness to the music services that wish to comply with the
law by taking licenses." 

According to Motown legend Dozier, "I feel very strongly
that writers and artists are being  robbed of their
livelihoods, and that's why I got involved in a lawsuit on
behalf of writers and  copyright owners like me. But
lawsuits alone don't solve these problems. A number of
websites  - Emusic, Full Audio, Listen.com and Streamwaves,
to name just a few - have rejected the `get  it for free'
mantra and are offering music on a licensed basis that
compensates the creators.  By using those sites rather than
the unlicensed sites, people can rest assured that the
creators  of the songs they love are being properly
compensated." 

Indeed, under the statutory compulsory license established
under the U.S. copyright laws in  1909, the defendants can
readily obtain licenses so as to operate legitimate Internet
music  services. "If these defendants had approached Harry
Fox or another licensing agent, they  would have learned
that songwriters and music publishers would have provided
them a license  with the statutorily prescribed 8 cents
royalty rate so that they could operate businesses that 
complied with the copyright laws," said Gary Churgin,
President and CEO of The Harry Fox  Agency, Inc. "Depriving
songwriters and music publishers of this royalty works a
tremendous  injustice. They are stealing their bread and
butter." 

Stoller added, "My deep concern about these pirate services
and their implications for  songwriting and music publishing
have led me to take a leading role in this lawsuit, as well
as  in similar actions against Napster, Aimster, and
Audiogalaxy. I am committed to seeing that  businesses that
openly and flagrantly encourage the free exchange of pirated
music comply  with the copyright laws. When millions of
people use these unlicensed services, they aren't  doing so
because they think the technology is `cool.' They are using
them because they can get  our songs without paying for
them. This has got to stop." 

The summary judgment motions filed by the songwriters and
music publishers this past fall  specifically seek to impose
liability on two separate theories: In the first, the
defendants may  be held liable as "contributory infringers"
because they possess knowledge of their users'  infringing
activity and materially contribute to the infringing
conduct. In the second, the  defendants are "vicariously"
liable because they have the right and ability to supervise
the  infringing activity, while also having a direct
financial interest in that activity. 

"Our legitimate licensees should not be competitively
disadvantaged simply because they  have chosen to comply
with the law. A court ruling that the operators of these
pirate services  are violating the copyright laws will go a
long way towards leveling the playing field," Murphy  added. 

The National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., founded in
1917, works to protect and  advance the interests of the
music publishing industry. With over 900 members, the NMPA 
represents the most important and influential music
publishing firms throughout the United  States. 

The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. provides an information source,
clearing house and monitoring  service for licensing musical
copyrights, and acts as licensing agent for more than
27,000  music publisher principals, who in turn represent
the interests of more than 160,000  songwriters. Besides the
core business functions of licensing, collections and
distribution of  royalties, HFA conducts periodic record
company and other user audits on behalf of its  principals.
HFA is the licensing affiliate of the National Music
Publishers' Association.