Court Is Urged to Shield File-Sharing Companies

An array of companies, musicians and academics from across the political spectrum urged the Supreme Court to uphold an appellate ruling last year in favor of companies behind the popular Grokster and Morpheus file-sharing networks.

The 23 briefs, whose authors included Intel Corp., the Consumer Electronics Assn., the American Conservative Union and the American Civil Liberties Union, urged the court to maintain the principle it set in the 1984 Sony Betamax case: Companies that produce technologies with substantial legitimate uses are not liable for acts of piracy committed by their users.

The high court is set to hear arguments March 29.

Last month, the Bush administration and copyright holders, technology firms and academics joined record firms and studios in urging the court to reverse the ruling.