MP3

But what makes MP3 so attractive to music fans? MP3's offer CD-quality sound and can be stored easily - an average song often takes anywhere from 3 to 5 megabytes of space. With increasingly high-quality computer sound systems, MP3 playlists offer a number of advantages over CD's. Music can be played continuously without changing CD's, and a number of songs from different albums can be played together in one mix. Music listeners no longer have to keep large collections of CD's or worry about losing or scratching them. When combined with portable MP3 players, different playlists can be transferred to the player when different music is wanted. MP3 players are also smaller than CD players and do not require the listener to carry around any discs.

Because of all these advantages, fan response has been largely positive towards MP3's. Perhaps the largest reason for MP3 popularity though is the fact that they have made music piracy especially easy. MP3's are easily transferable, and it is relatively easy to find copyrighted songs in MP3 format on the Internet. When combined with a CD burner, it is easy to download entire albums as MP3, then burn them onto CD's to listen to in the car or on home stereo systems. The allure of the MP3 is therefore fairly simple and straightforward: given the option of paying $15 for a CD or downloading the same music for free, which would you choose?

^*In addition to these two artists, a number of others have spoken out against Napster, though they haven't taken legal action. These include Elton John, Puff Daddy, Aimee Mann, Creed, the Black Crowes, Bif Naked, and Everclear.

Metallica Metallica has received the most publicity of any artist to speak out about the issue. This is in part due to both their huge popularity and their war against Napster, one of the most popular web companies in the music world. On April 13, Metallica sued the San Mateo-based company for copyright infringement and racketeering. According to the band, Napster's software encourages users to freely trade the band's songs without permission. Lars Ulrich, the band's drummer, said, "If they want to steal Metallica's music, instead of hiding behind their computers in their bedrooms and dorm rooms, then just go down to Tower Records and grab them off the shelves." The band also sued three universities: Indiana University, Yale, and the University of Southern California for widespread piracy across their campus' networks. Metallica and attorney Howard King hired an independent firm to identify users on Napster who were sharing Metallica songs. Ulrich and King then hand-delivered a list of 335,000 users to Napster's office in a highly publicized event. Napster responded by kicking those users off of their servers. However, Napster also has provided a petition form for users to fill out if they feel they were incorrectly identified. So far, over 30,000 users have done so. According to King, "They're absolutely lying. There's no question that they're lying. Each and every one of them was offering Metallica MP3s for uploads." By filling out this form though, Metallica is legally forced to bring suit against each user individually if they want to take action, which Metallica has said they will not do. The band also dropped their suits against the schools after Indiana and Yale agreed to ban Napster on their campus, and USC limited the service to specific computers on campus.

Dr. Dre Rap star Dr. Dre filed a federal lawsuit after Napster said it could not remove his work from its service. He has asked the court to shut down Napster and award $100,000 per illegally copied work in damages. He is also represented by Howard King. On May 17th, like Metallica, Dr. Dre delivered a list of 239,612 users on Napster trading illegal copies of his songs to Napster, but with far less fanfare and publicity. However, Dre has said that instead of blocking the users, he wants Napster to block the actual songs themselves. Dre and King have also mentioned the possibility of suing certain individuals who they describe as having "huge hard drives and actually are downloading copyrighted materials and transmitting (them) on the Internet."

Chuck D Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy has a different opinion of the Internet and Napster in particular. He feels that it is an opportunity for musicians to market their skills and make money without having to deal with big music companies. Record companies can often restrict or even extort musicians. Musicians sign with record companies for a certain number of albums, and are contractually bound to that company until the albums are complete. Usually, they assume the rights to a number of aspects of a musician's work as well. These include: The recording and selling of a musician's work The use of the name, likeness or biography of a musician Any public performance Musicians cannot re-record a song for a certain period of time for another label The record companies also control the amount that musicians will receive for royalties on each album sold. Chuck D believes that Napster can help an artist bypass this all, and he calls it direct-to-consumer marketing. There are no hassles of record company contracts or fees for marketing, and artists can share their music directly with the public at their own discretion. In addition, Chuck D says that Napster should be treated as a new form of radio. The rapper and heavy metal artist Ice-T also agrees with Chuck D's view.

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit sides in favor of Napster as well. This summer, they, along with Cypress Hill, will be going on a fan-appreciation tour sponsored by Napster, who is paying $2 million. Fred Durst, the band's leader, said in a news conference that Napster allows people to get a taste of an album first before deciding to buy it. According to Durst, "I would think the only people worried about that are people that are really worried about their bank accounts. The Internet is here, and anybody trying to fight that, which would be people who are living by certain standards and practices of the record industry, those are the only people who are scared and threatened."

Technologies such as Napster and MP3.com are also very valuable to little-known or new artists. It is very difficult for a fledgling band to receive a contract from a large record company, let alone a contract that will pay the bills, and traditional methods of getting airtime such as sending tapes to all local radio stations, or trying to get gigs playing at local nightclubs, are extremely inefficient. MP3 networking technologies provide a quick and easy way to disseminate an artist's work to millions of users for free. In fact, this is Napster's official purpose, and their corporate web site includes several resources allowing new bands to best utilize Napster's network.

The RIAA's Response

On May 5th, a federal court sided with the RIAA in a ruling against Napster. The RIAA claimed Napster allows users to download copyrighted songs illegally. Napster claimed that their service was protected under Section 512(a) of the DMCA because they were merely providing a channel for information and data to be shared. They were providing no actual data themselves. This section of the DMCA was originally intended to remove liability from Internet service providers for what data passes across their services. But in the May 5th ruling, US District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel rejected that argument saying that the sharing of these songs is not made possible by the Napster server, but the Internet itself. Therefore, Napster "does not transmit, route or provide connections for allegedly infringing material through its system," and does not qualify for safe harbor under section 512(a).

The DMCA's Effect on Everything

However, the DMCA has changed quite a few things. Legally Napster is in a much less defendable spot under the DMCA, and since it is not a common carrier, it is responsible for the files that members of the Napster Music Community transfer. Despite the fact that this disclaimer is displayed when any Napster user logs on:

* PLEASE NOTE: Napster, Inc. makes no representations or warranties
* regarding MP3 files possessed by Napster users. Thousands of MP3
* files have been authorized for distribution over the Internet by
* copyright owners; however, Napster users should understand that MP3
* files may have been created or distributed without copyright owner
* authorization. Neither the MP3 file format nor the Napster software
* indicates whether a particular MP3 file has been authorized for
* copying or distribution. Copying or distributing unauthorized MP3
* files may violate United States and/or foreign copyright laws.
* Compliance with copyright law remains your responsibility.