Here are some highlights from the Napster saga:
· May 1999: College dropout Shawn Fanning, 19, and some friends start the Napster Inc. file-sharing service, which gains overnight popularity on the Internet.
· Dec. 7, 1999: The recording Industry Association of America files a suit in U.S. District Court charging Napster with contributory and vicarious copyright infringement.
· April 13, 2000:Metallica files a copyright infringement suit against Napster, alleging it is unlawfully using a digital audio interface device and violating the Racketeering Influenced & Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. Their suit names the University of Southern California, Yale University and Indiana University for not banning the use of the Internet file-sharing program. Dr. Dre files suit two weeks later.
· May 3, 2000: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and the band’s attorney produce a list of over 335,000 internet users they claim are illegally sharing their songs through Napster.
· May 5, 2000: U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel rules that Napster is not entitled to “safe harbor” under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
· July 26, 2000: Patel grants the RIAA’s request for a preliminary injunction and orders Napster shut down.
· July 28, 2000: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stays the lower court injunction, ruling “substantial questions” were raised about the merits and from Patel’s injunction.
· Oct. 2, 2000: Appeals court hears oral arguments.
· Oct. 31, 2000: Napster announces a partnership with German media giant Bertelsmann AG to develop a membership-based distribution system that would guarantee payments to the artists. Under the deal, Bertelsmann agrees to drop its lawsuit against Napster and make its music catalog available to Napster, while gaining the right to buy a stake in the service.
· Feb. 12, 2001: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules Napster must stop trading copyrighted material.
· Feb. 20, 2001: Napster offers $1 billion settlement to record companies to drop their suits. The offer is rejected two days later.
· March 2, 2001: Napster lawyers tell a federal district court that they will implement a plan to prevent the songs from being traded and begin filtering a list of 1 million copyrighted files from its system.
· March 14, 2001: Napster signs an agreement California-based Gracenote, whose online song database is used for online information access and software applications. Napster will have full access to the database, which will help the complex task of filtering out copyrighted material.
· June 5, 2001: MusicNet and Napster reach an agreement to license its digital music on Napster’s new site.
· June 25, 2001: Napster signs a worldwide licensing agreement with the United Kingdom’s Association of Independent Music and the Independent Music Companies Association to provide music for its new subscription service.
· June 27, 2001 — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences files suit against Napster, charging that the online service has allowed users to download recordings of artists’ performances recorded during Oscar telecasts.
· July 12, 2001: Patel orders Napster to remain offline until it can show that it is able to effectively block access to copyrighted works. Metallica and Dr. Dre settle their legal disputes with Napster, ending all legal actions between the parties.
