The Recording Industry Association Of America has welcomed the decision by the US Supreme Court to hear the MGM v Grokster case in which the film studio hope to prove the P2P company should be held liable for the movies illegally shared over their network. The RIAA will be hoping the case goes in the movie company's favour. Grokster will defend themselves with the old 1984 Sony Betamax decision that says technology firms cannot be held liable if their technology is used for illegal purposes - ie copyright theft. The courts have tended to agree that the P2P networks, when accused of copyright theft by the record labels, are indeed covered by that ruling. If the Supreme Court were to rule against Grokster in this case (which they probably won't, but if they did...) then the music industry's legal case against the P2P companies could begin afresh.
Dec 14, 2004
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1 min read
RIAA pleased MGM get to take on Grokster in Supreme Court
The RIAA has welcomed the US Supreme Court's decision to hear MGM's case against P2P company Grokster, which could affect music labels' legal action against P2P networks.