By Steven Deare, 6 September 2005 09:10
NEWS Sharman Networks has announced it will appeal a Federal Court ruling that several respondents associated with the company had authorised infringement of music industry copyright and that it must introduce filters to the Kazaa file-sharing software.
Justice Murray Wilcox delivered the landmark judgement in the Federal Court in Sydney yesterday.
Outside the court, a spokeswoman for Sharman Networks said the company would appeal the decision.
She stressed the record label's victory had not been comprehensive, citing the judge's dismissal of the labels' Trade Practices Act and conspiracy claims.
The company said in a statement: "Both parties have had a win, although neither side has had a complete victory.
"Sharman Networks is obviously disappointed that we have not been completely successful. But, we will appeal those parts of the decision where we were not successful and are confident of a win on appeal."
A spokesman for the record labels said his side was disappointed in Sharman's decision.
"We're disappointed they won't accept the umpire's decision. It can't be fair to build a business on somebody else's work," he said.
However, he added, the applicants were "absolutely delighted" with the judgement: "It's a great day for artists, and music.
"The consequence of this [judgement] will have global impact."
Importantly, Justice Wilcox had ruled that Sharman would have to make considerable change to Kazaa if it wished to continue its business, according to the record labels' spokesman.
"The court has made orders in that [Kazaa] has to be legitimate or disappear," he said. "It is up to these people to honestly and decently stop ripping off music.
"If you're out there and you're ripping off music... sit up and take notice."
Asked how many millions of dollars the record labels might apply for in damages, he avoided giving a figure but said: "These people have crowed for years about [the number of] their downloads."
The labels would ask the court that the damages awarded reflect those claims, he said.
The labels had already frozen AU$30m worth of the respondents' assets, according to the spokesman, and so are confident they will receive full payment.
He described the cost of the long-running court action to the record labels as "a small investment in protecting the future of the music industry".
"It's very small compared to what was ripped off from the industry."
Asked whether the record labels would pursue similar operators, he said: "It's not our preferred option."
The international record industry organisation, International Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers (IFPI), said the court's decision would lay down the law for future generations.
The Australian decision comes just 10 weeks after the US Supreme Court ruled against file-sharing operator Grokster.
IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy said: "Within the space of 10 weeks, two courts in different continents and hemispheres have given a huge boost to the efforts by music and technology companies to forge a legal online music business."
"Today's judgement shows that Kazaa - one of the biggest engines of copyright theft and the biggest brand in music piracy worldwide - is illegal," he said.
"This is a milestone in the fight against internet piracy worldwide. Today there is a resounding signal to other unauthorised file-swapping networks: they should adapt their systems and go legitimate now."
Steven Deare writes for ZDNet Australia
Comments
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1. anonymous
Kazaa is yesterday's flavor. There are more than 10 new P2P programs that are being widely used to download music and files. It truley seems like the music industry can never get ahead of the curve. It takes them years to fight just one of these programs and during that same time there are better, new versions springing up everywhere. Now they have IP spoofing built in and cloaking programs. Good luck with that.
2. anonymous
It's just too bad it won't be the artists who win from this at all; it's the RIAA and the MPAA lawyers taking in all the profits. Until artists get more than the 13 or so cents out of the 20 bucks it costs for a CD at any given store, they need to silence themselves. The labels AND the RIAA are the ones screwing the artists, no one else. So deal with the labels if you want to deal with anyone. More artists should dump the lame ass labels and release their cds themselves so as they CAN make the money they deserve for once.
3. anonymous
Ok so the courts have decided that p2p can be illegal depending on what you are sharing! The records companys appear to be receiving large sums of money as settlements. Will any artists who made the music, which is being shared receive a quota of these fines. Somehow I dont think so. The question to ask is 'who is ripping who off!' Theres only one loser - music.
4. MusicFan
a "milestone" of ignorance!
Kazaa is old hat now, there are much better lower profile P2P networks out there. This ruling wont change anything, the file sharing networks and the sharers are way ahead of the labels and their lawyers. Its time they stopped trying to line their own pockets and embrace this new era of music distribution. File sharing is here to stay so they need to find a way of working with it, not against it.
5. Zakala
"We're disappointed they won't accept the umpire's decision. It can't be fair to build a business on somebody else's work."
Hmm.... lets ask the songwriters and recording artists about that one; isn't this sort of parasitic behaviour what the record labels have been doing for years? Isn't clamping down on uncontrolled file sharing and enforcing the use of DRM just another way to ensure that all entertainers must use their services to have a voice?