The death spiral of Napster begins
In the year 2000 a new company called Napster created something of a music-fans utopiaa world in which nearly every song ever recorded was instantly available on your home computerfor free.Even to some at the time it sounded too good to be true and in the end it was.The fantasy world that Napster created came crashing down in 2001 in the face of multiple copyright-violation lawsuits.
After a string of adverse legal decisions Napster Inc.began its death spiral on March 6 2001 when it began complying with a Federal court order to block the transfer of copyrighted material over its peer-to-peer network.Oh but people enjoyed it while it lasted.At the peak of Napsters popularity in late 2000 and early 2001 some 60 million users around the world were freely exchanging digital mp3 files with the help of the program developed by Northeastern University college student Shawn Fanning in the summer of 1999.
Radiohead Robert Johnson The Runaways Metallica Nearly all of their music was right at your fingertips and free for the taking.Which of course was a problem for the bands like Metallica which after discovering their song I Disappear circulating through Napster prior to its official release filed suit against the company alleging vicarious copyright infringement under the U.S.Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1996.
Hip-hop artist Dr.Dre soon did the same but the case that eventually brought Napster down was the 20 billion infringement case filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).That caseA&M Records Inc.v.
Napster Incwended its way through the courts over the course of 2000 and early 2001 before being decided in favor of the RIAA on February 12 2001.The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected Napsters claims of fair use as well as its call for the court to institute a payment system that would have compensated the record labels while allowing Napster to stay in business.Then on March 5 2001 District Court Judge Marilyn Patel issued a preliminary injunction ordering Napster to remove within 72 hours any songs named by the plaintiffs in a list of their copyrighted material on the Napster network.
The following day March 6 2001 Napster Inc.began the process of complying with Judge Patels order.Though the company would attempt to stay afloat it shut down its service just three months later having begun the process of dismantling itself on this day in 2001.
