A & M RECORDS, INC. v. Napster, Inc.

The matter before the court concerns the boundary between sharing and theft, personal use and the unauthorized worldwide distribution of copyrighted music and sound recordings. On December 6, 1999, A & M Records and seventeen other record companies (“record company plaintiffs”) filed a complaint for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement, violations of the California Civil Code section 980(a)(2), and unfair competition against Napster, Inc., an Internet start-up that enables users to download MP3 music files without payment. On January 7, 2000, plaintiffs Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Frank Music Corporation filed a complaint for vicarious and contributory copyright infringement on behalf of a putative class of similarly-situated music publishers (“music publisher plaintiffs”) against Napster, Inc. and former CEO Eileen Richardson. The music publisher plaintiffs filed a first amended complaint on April 6, 2000, and on May 24, 2000, the court entered a stipulation of dismissal of all claims against Richardson. Now before this court is the record company and music publisher plaintiffs’ joint motion to preliminarily enjoin Napster, Inc. from engaging in or…