Petteri Pyyny
12 Jul 2001 14:32
One of the most legendary lawsuits in digital music world has closed now when Napster settled its lawsuits with Metallica and Dr. Dre. Both artists sued Napster in spring 2000 over copyright violations (both artists are rarities among the music world because they own all rights to their music -- normally copyrights are owned by record labels) and especially Metallica has received a lot of attention from media, varying from MTV News to various anti-Metallica websites.
Terms of the settlement were not disclosed and according to Napster's spokesperson this settlement doesn't have anything to do with yesterday's court order to keep Napster shut until company can provide 100% song-screening technology. Both Metallica and Dr. Dre, who are represented by the same lawyer, have agreed to share some of their songs through the up-coming legal version of Napster.