Supreme Court Says File-Sharing Services May Be Sued for Copyright Infringement by Students and Other Users

By ANDREA L. FOSTER

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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously this morning that commercial producers of file-sharing software may be sued for copyright infringement. The services are popular with college students who use them to download songs and movies, usually in violation of copyright law.

In the decision, in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. vs. Grokster Ltd. (No. 04-480), the court ruled in favor of the music and movie studios and against companies such as Grokster and StreamCast Networks Inc., the creator of Morpheus.

"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright ... is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties," Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court.

The decision sends the case back for further proceedings to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, which had upheld a lower-court ruling in favor of the file-sharing services. The appeals court had dismissed the studios' accusation that producers of the file-sharing networks were liable for copyright infringement.

Justice Souter's decision was accompanied by a concurring opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and a concurrence by Justice Stephen G. Breyer.

• Professors Join the Fray as Supreme Court Hears Arguments in File-Sharing Case (4/8/2005)

• Downloading to a Lawful Beat (10/22/2004)

• 2 Major File-Sharing Services Are Not Liable for Illegal Copying by Users, Federal Appeals Court Rules (9/3/2004)

• The Downloading Beat Goes On (2/6/2004)

• Record Industry Will Send Warnings to Millions of Users of File-Sharing Services (5/16/2003)

• Court Ruling and 4 Settlements Shift Debate Over File-Sharing Programs (5/9/2003)

Opinion:

• Hollywood Profits v. Technological Progress (4/1/2005)