In re Napster, Inc. Copyright Litigation
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
191 F. Supp. 2d 1087 (2002)
Napster, Incorporated (Napster) ran a peer-to-peer music file-sharing service and was sued for copyright infringement by major labels including EMI, BMG, Warner, Sony, and Universal. Napster argued the labels' copyrights were unenforceable against it under the misuse doctrine, alleging all five refused to individually license their catalogs and instead formed joint ventures (MusicNet and pressplay) that gave those ventures — not Napster — access, with MusicNet's license to Napster barring Napster from separately licensing individual labels. Napster's expert offered evidence the labels' conduct was anticompetitive. After losing the misuse argument at the preliminary-injunction stage, Napster reasserted it in opposing the labels' summary-judgment motions.
Whether courts may deny enforcement of a copyright if the copyright holder misuses its copyright in a way that subverts public policy underlying the Copyright Clause.