THE entertainment industry was handed a significant victory over pirating yesterday when the US Supreme Court ruled that file-sharing networks can be held liable when users copy music, films and other copyrighted works without permission.
The unanimous ruling opens the way for a new wave of prosecutions against the file-sharing networks Grokster and StreamCast’s Morpheus.
Justice David Souter, a member of the court, wrote: “We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright . . . is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties.”
The ruling overturns a US Appeals Court verdict that had argued that internet file- sharing networks were legitimate because they could be used for legal as well as illegal purposes. That was based on a landmark 1984 ruling in which Sony was held not to have been liable if people used its video recorders to copy television shows without permission because the technology was designed to be used legitimately.
Grokster was also held to be significantly different from Napster because there was no central database of music and other files to download. Instead, Grokster is used to share — without paying — music, television shows and films.
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However, the Supreme Court said yesterday that the 1984 ruling had been over- interpreted. “There is no evidence that either company [Grokster or StreamCast] made an effort to filter copyrighted material from users’ downloads or otherwise impede the sharing of copyrighted files,” Judge Souter wrote.
Mark Rhys-Jones, a lawyer from Eversheds, said: “This is a significant ruling and a major victory for music companies . . . with music downloads now included in official chart figures, it is likely cases against illegal file-sharers will increase.”
Until now the music industry — where illegal downloading has been most prevalent — has been forced to sue individuals it believes have been guilty of illegal downloading. Although the process has had some success, it has been laborious.
The British Phonographic Industry, which represents British record labels, said that it would continue to pursue individuals but the focus of the music industry inevitably will turn to pursuing the creators of file-sharing software and trying to turn them into networks for legitimate business.
www.supremecourtus.gov