|
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.
return to Advisory Bulletins
main page
|
