Music Law Advisory Bulletin
Supreme Court Issues Landmark
Internet Copyright Decision in Grokster
[June 2005]
Earlier today, the United States Supreme Court issued
a landmark decision in the Grokster peer-to-peer filing sharing
case. In an unanimous opinion (9-0) authored by Justice David H.Souter,
the Court reversed the Ninth Circuit's decision that had affirmed
a summary judgment motion filed by defendants Grokster and StreamCast,
holding that Internet file-sharing services can be held responsible
for distributing software that is intended primarily for use by
customers to swap music and movies illegally. The Supreme Court's
decision sends the case back to lower court, with an instruction
that the district court revisit the summary judgment motion that
had been filed by the plaintiff studios, record labels, and music
publishers.
The decision establishes a broad and favorable understanding
of the law of inducing copyright infringement. Specifically, the
Court held that "one who distributes a device with the object
of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression
or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable
for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties." Moreover,
the Court acknowledged that plaintiffs may rely on circumstantial
evidence to prove the requisite intent.
The Court left open the possibility that other bases
for liability also might exist.
The decision can be found at
http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/27
jun20051200/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/04-480.pdf
We will be providing a more detailed analysis of the
decision in the near future.
Kelli Sager, Andrew Thomas and Jeff Blum of
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP were co-counsel with Carey Ramos, Peter
L Felcher, Aidan Synnott, Theodore Cheng and John Longwell of Paul
Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison LLP in representing the songwriter
and music publisher plaintiffs in this case.
For more information, please contact:
This Advisory is a publication of the Music
Law Group of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. Our purpose in publishing
this Advisory is to inform our clients and friends of recent developments
in the music industry. It is not intended, nor should it be used,
as a substitute for specific legal advice as legal counsel may be
given only in response to inquiries regarding particular situations.
Copyright © 2004, Davis Wright
Tremaine LLP.
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