Monday February 12 2:41 PM ET
|
Monday February 12 2:41 PM ET Timeline of Events in Napster Case |
-May 1999: Napster Inc. file-sharing service founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker and explodes in popularity.
-Dec. 7, 1999: Recording Industry Association of America (news
- web sites) sues Napster in federal court in San
Francisco alleging copyright infringement.
-April 13, 2000: Heavy metal rock group Metallica (news - web sites) sues Napster for copyright infringement and racketeering. Rapper Dr. Dre files suit two weeks later.
-May 3, 2000: Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and the band's attorney produce list of more than 335,000 Internet user names of people the band says are illegally sharing their songs using Napster.
-May 5, 2000: U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel rules that Napster is not entitled to ``safe harbor'' under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (news - web sites).
-July 26, 2000: Patel grants the RIAA's request for a preliminary injunction and orders Napster shut down.
-July 28, 2000: The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) stays the lower court injunction, ruling that ``substantial questions'' were raised about the merits and form of Patel's injunction.
-Oct. 2, 2000: Appeals court hears oral arguments.
-Oct. 31, 2000: Napster announces partnership with German media
giant Bertelsmann AG to develop a
membership-based distribution system that would guarantee payments
to artists. Under the deal, Bertelsmann agrees to drop lawsuit against
Napster and make its music catalog available to Napster, while gaining
the right to buy a stake in the service.
- Feb. 12, 2001: 9th Circuit says Napster must stop allowing music fans to use its free Internet-based service to share copyrighted material. A three-judge panel allowed Napster to remain in business but told a lower court judge to rewrite her injunction that ordered Napster to shut down pending a trial in the music industry's lawsuit.
- May 17, 2002: German media giant Bertelsmann steps in with $8 million to buy its assets and keep the online song-swap service in business. More
- July 9, 2002: Gnutella developer Gene Kan dies in apparent suicide. More.
- Sept. 16, 2002: Spanish pornography company offers $2.4 million in stock for some of Napster's assets. More
- Oct. 1, 2002: Music companies agree to pay $143 million to settle
states' CD price fixing case. More
- Nov. 27, 2002: Court accepts Roxio's $5.3 million bid for Napster
assets. More