Irony overload: Kazaa sues RIAA over copyright infringement

[Grojlach]

Makers of Kazaa suing record labels

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Turning the tables on record labels, makers of the most popular Internet song-swapping network are suing entertainment companies for copyright infringement.
Sharman Networks Ltd., the company behind the Kazaa file-sharing software, filed a federal lawsuit Monday accusing the entertainment companies of using unauthorized versions of its software in their efforts to root out users. Entertainment companies have offered bogus versions of copyright works and sent online messages to users.
Sharman said the companies used Kazaa Lite, an ad-less replica of its software, to get onto the network. The lawsuit also claims efforts to combat piracy on Kazaa violated terms for using the network.

Trying again
Sharman's lawsuit also revives its previous allegation that the entertainment companies violated antitrust laws by stopping Sharman and its partner from distributing authorized copies of music and movies through Kazaa.
U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson rejected those claims in July but last week allowed Sharman to try again. Sharman is incorporated in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu with main offices in Sydney, Australia.

Firing back
The Recording Industry Association of America called Sharman's "newfound admiration for the importance of copyright law" ironic and "self-serving."
Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, a division of CNN's parent company AOL Time Warner, declined to comment on Sharman's latest lawsuit.
Recording companies sued 261 music fans this month, claiming they were illegally distributing hundreds of digital song files apiece over the Internet. The industry trolled file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and downloaded song files from users' computers.
Once the industry determined a downloaded song file was a copyright work, they issued subpoenas to Internet access providers to find out who was behind the account used to log onto the file-sharing network.

RIAA drops one lawsuit
Meanwhile, the recording industry group has dropped one of the 261 lawsuits, a case filed against a 66-year-old sculptor who apparently was targeted in a case of mistaken identity.
Sarah Seabury Ward, of Newbury, Massachusetts, was accused of illegally sharing more than 2,000 songs through Kazaa, including rapper Trick Daddy's "I'm a Thug." The music companies threatened to hold her liable for up to $150,000 for each song.
After Ward's lawyer complained that Ward is a "computer neophyte" who never installed file-sharing software or downloaded any songs, the case was dropped in federal court in Boston on Friday.

Source: CNN

[Chewbacca]

That's just brilliant.

[pritchke]

Yes, I saw that. Obviously it is wrong for anyone but the Recording Industry to break a copyright laws. I guess because they are an almighty corporation that makes billions of dollars that they are allowed to break copyright laws but they must nail the little guys. I hope the recording industry gets a huge penalty. Nnothing worse than a hypocrite sueing people(They sue a bunch of people while doing the same thing to catch the little guys).

[ 09-25-2003, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Gnarf]

I guess it had to happen some day...

[The Hunter of Jahanna]

Didnt Larry Flynt do the same thing when he was sued by Jerry Falwell? Maybe Kazza has become the modern day Hustler.