Unanimous U.S. Supreme Court rules against file swapping companies

Monday, June 27, 2005

The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that Internet file sharing networks can be sued for copyright infringement. The decision in the case "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. et al. v. Grokster, Ltd. et al." had been much awaited by those on both sides of the debate about copyright law and its application to Internet technologies. The court ruled that businesses created with the purpose of letting users commit copyright violations should be held liable for the infringement.

Writing for the court, Justice David Souter wrote: "One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, going beyond mere distribution with knowledge of third-party action, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device, regardless of the device's lawful uses."

The strength of the decision was unexpected — this is the first major Internet copyright case to reach the Supreme Court in many years, and the Justices' unanimity sends a strong message about their lack of tolerance for companies designed to violate the law.

The decision affects such companies as Grokster and StreamCast, both of which were defendants in this suit. The court's ruling does not have an immediate effect, however, as the Justices referred the decisions to a lower court to be reconsidered.

Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney for the EFF, panned the court for not providing a clear test for what constitutes inducement, saying it would discourage innovators unsure of their project's legality. He did however remain optimistic about Grokster and StreamCast's chances in the lower courts.

Share this:

Sources

John Borland. "Supreme Court rules against file swapping" — News.com, June 27, 2005
David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer. "Justices Rule File-Sharing Services Can Be Held Liable for Theft" — LA Times, 12:44 PM PDT, June 27, 2005

External links

Wikipedia

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

MGM v. Grokster

Wikisource

wikisource has original text related to this article:

MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.

Supreme Court decision in the case

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

The text of this article has been released into the public domain. In the event that this is not legally possible, this article may be used for any purpose, without any condition, unless such conditions are required by law. This applies worldwide. Copyright terms on images, however, may vary, so please check individual image pages prior to duplication.