COPYCENSE

"The next chapter in the global legal battle between the recording industry and file-sharing services began in Sydney, Australia on Monday when the owners of the hugely popular Kazaa software went to trial to defend against civil copyright infringement charges.

"The entertainment industry already has sued file-sharing services in the United States. Two federal courts in California have cleared Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. of liability, though the industry has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, said the U.S. cases should not directly affect the outcome of the Australian lawsuit, but all share the principle that a software developer is not directly responsible for the activities of its users, just as Xerox cannot be blamed for copying done on its machines."

Mike Cooper. Recording Industry, File-Share Face Off. WashingtonPost.com. Nov. 26, 2004.

See also:
Reuters. Kazaa Heads to Court for File-Swap Trial. News.com. Nov. 28, 2004.

(Editor’s Note: The Post allows free access to their stories on the Web for 14 days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archives.)

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