Napster Retrial Request Denied

A federal appeals court on Monday rejected a request by Napster Inc. for a new hearing, leaving intact an earlier order barring the company from helping users swap copyrighted songs online.

The decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals moves the lawsuit against Napster, brought by the major record labels and music publishers, one step closer to a trial before U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel. Because Napster users have downloaded billions of copyrighted songs, the trial could result in one of the largest damage awards ever in a copyright-infringement case.

Patel originally ruled against Napster last July, granting a preliminary injunction that barred the service from helping consumers copy the plaintiffs’ songs. Napster appealed, but a three-judge panel on the 9th Circuit ruled against the company in February and called for a new injunction.

On Monday, the panel voted unanimously to not hear the appeal again, and the full appeals court also declined to grant a rehearing.

Jonathan Schwartz, general counsel for Napster, issued a statement saying the company was disappointed but not surprised that its long-shot request was denied. “We will now review our legal options,” the statement said.

Napster became one of the most popular online services by offering music fans a system to copy music files for free from one another.

In response to Patel’s injunction, Napster has deployed an increasingly effective series of filters to stop its users from searching for and downloading copyrighted songs identified by the plaintiffs.

Within a few months, Napster plans to deploy a new service that will require users to pay subscription fees and allow them to swap only songs authorized for copying.

“With the launch of the new membership service later this summer, we believe we will put to rest many of the outstanding legal issues,” Schwartz said.