Rapper vs.
Napster: Dr. Dre cries foul
It's a hit on the Net, but the
music file-sharing program is fast becoming a sour note
for the recording industry.
By Sue Zeidler, Reuters
UPDATED April 19, 2000 5:48 PM PT
LOS ANGELES -- Rapper Dr. Dre became
the latest artist to lash out at Napster Inc., giving
the song-swap software company until Friday to take his
music off its directory, which he says is infringing his
copyrights.
Dr.
Dre made his demands known in a letter to Napster's
acting CEO, Eileen Richardson. The rapper's action
follows a lawsuit filed last week by heavy-metal band
Metallica, which sued San Mateo, Calif.-based Napster
, and three universities alleging they encouraged users
to trade songs and recordings without the band's
permission.
"We wrote a letter yesterday on
behalf of Dr. Dre to Napster basically putting them on
notice that the listing of his songs and masters on
Napster and the facilitation of the transfer of those
files constitutes an infringement of his
copyrights," said Howard King, an attorney who sent
the letter on behalf of Andre Young, known as Dr. Dre.
"Dr. Dre has not committed to
suing them, but that would be the logical conclusion if
they don't take it off their site," said King, who
also is representing Metallica.
More lawsuits to follow?
King said he has been contacted by no fewer than 10
artists or managers and a major publishing company in
the past week about pursuing Napster either in
connection with the Metallica lawsuit or in separate
lawsuits. He said he expects other lawsuits to emerge in
coming weeks.
A representative for Napster was not
immediately available for comment on the Dr. Dre letter.
"It has never been Napster's
intention to belittle the importance of an artistic
production, and we are very passionate about helping
bands understand the value of what we offer.
Nevertheless, technological advances over the last
several years are restructuring the entertainment
business," Richardson said in a statement last
week.
Napster works like a co-op, where
users sign on and trade their libraries of MP3 files, a
compression format used to convert music on CDs into
computer files. The software, available free, enables
users to search a giant database that grows every time a
new users signs on.
USC, Yale, IU racketeering?
Napster is so popular among college students it has
clogged campus networks, causing many universities to
ban its use. Napster also has enraged the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents
the major record labels and has sued Napster. The group
strongly opposes the MP3 format since it allows
distribution of music without copyright protection.
The Metallica suit, filed in the U.S.
District Court in Los Angeles last Thursday, accuses
Napster, the University of Southern California, Yale
University and Indiana University of copyright
infringement and racketeering.
Napster's lawyer, Laurence Pulgram,
last week said the Metallica lawsuit raised the same
copyright issues as the suit filed against Napster by
the recording industry. He said Napster was prepared to
defend the suits vigorously.
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