Lawyer Tony Meagher said the main issue of the case was whether Sharman Networks authorized the Kazaa users to use it for copyright infringement. "We tell these users in our Web site and we tell them in our license that they cannot use this for infringing copyright," Meagher told Judge Murray Wilcox. "By consenting to the terms of the license agreement, the users were exempting Kazaa's owners from liability for copyright infringement" he added.
Judge Wilcox seemed quite humoured at the claim made by Meagher and asked if it was "unduly cynical" to assume that most people don't read software licensing agreements. "One is entitled to use one's general experience that most people don't read through legal documents unless they regard them as critically important," he said. Meagher responded by saying that users were required to confirm that they read the license agreement before using Kazaa to trade any files.
The recording industry fought back against the claims Sharman made about their lack of control over users of the network and accused Kazaa of enabling and encouraging copyright infringement. The lawyers argued that Sharman collects information on its users that would enable them to control their use of the software. Lawyer Tony Bannon told the court that Sharman collects information on Kazaa users and sells it to advertisers, adding that it was a "mind boggling claim" that they had no control.
The recording industry wants the court to rule that Sharman Networks is liable for the massive copyright infringement that has taken place on the network. If they get their wish then they can sue Sharman for damages or every single instance of copyright infringement. A verdict is expected within six weeks.
Source:
ABC News
Written by: James Delahunty @ 23 Mar 2005 12:02
