In February 2001, a federal appeals court sided with the record companies, ordering Napster to prevent users from exchanging copyrighted music owned by major record companies.
In October, Judge Aspen ordered Madster to prevent users from exchanging music files whose copyrights were owned by the major record companies.
It has become a popular way to exchange music files, particularly in light of the struggles of Napster, which has been ordered by a federal court in California to prevent users from exchanging copyrighted music files.
Under the settlement, Audiogalaxy, based in Austin, Tex., has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum of money and to prevent users from exchanging copyrighted files without authorization from the groups that brought the lawsuit, the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Music Publishers AssociationNational Music Publishers Association
A federal court has ruled that Napster must prevent users from exchanging copyrighted files; on July 1, Napster suspended its file-sharing service while it worked to comply fully with the ruling.
In a concrete sign that Napster is at last succumbing in the face of huge legal obstacles, the company said today that it would begin this weekend, for the first time, to prevent users from exchanging some copyrighted songs online.
The injunction, issued by Marvin E. Aspen of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, requires Madster to prevent users from exchanging music files whose copyrights are owned by the major record companies.
In July 2000, Judge Marilyn Patel of Federal District Court in San Francisco granted the music industry's request for a preliminary injunction against Napster, forcing it to prevent users from exchanging copyrighted music.
The Recording Industry Association of America today asked a federal court to force Napster to tighten a filter designed to prevent users from exchanging copyrighted files online, asserting that the current filtering system has been wholly ineffective.
The industry scored a major victory in March when a federal judge in California issued a preliminary injunction ordering Napster to prevent users from exchanging copyrighted music owned by major record companies.
