Napster to Head Back to Court

Feb. 28 -- Doomsday could come as early as Friday for Napster.

U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has ordered both parties in the Napster copyright lawsuit back to court for a March 2 hearing to consider modifications to a legal order against the wildly popular Internet company.

On Feb. 12, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dealt the online music swap shop a harsh legal blow, ruling that Napster must stop dealing in most copyrighted music, pending a trial.

A recap of the events in a trial that hasn't even begun yet goes like this: Patel granted the Recording Industry Association of America’s request to shut down Napster last July, until the lawsuit is resolved. But days later, Napster got a last-minute reprieve from a higher court allowing the Internet music company to stay open until it reviewed Judge Patel’s ruling. About seven months later, the appeals court ruled heavily in favor of the recording industry. (Click here for a complete timeline.)

While Napster has argued it has a number of legal, fair uses — an argument that helped Sony win its Betamax videocassette recorder case against Hollywood in the Supreme Court in 1984 — the appeals court shot down that argument, saying the cases' issues are different. It also agreed with the Patel’s finding of clear copyright infringement.

“Napster, by its conduct, knowingly encourages and assists the infringement of plaintiffs’ copyrights,” the appeals court wrote in its opinion.

But while the appeals court agreed with the lower court decision to issue the injunction that would halt at least some of Napster’s operations, it found Judge Patel’s wording too broad and sent it back to the district court for reworking.

“Judge Patel has the discretion now to decide how and when and what she wants to enter” with respect to the injunction, said Russell Frackman, lead attorney representing the record companies. The appeals court has given her guidance, though, including placing “dual burdens … both on us to some respect to identify copyrighted works and on Napster.”