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[FYI] Howard King, Esq.: "Hundreds of thousands of people are breaking into record stores and stealing CDs and tapes"



http://writ.findlaw.com/commentary/20000501_king.html

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HOWARD KING 

WHY METALLICA SUED NAPSTER  

At this moment, all around the world, hundreds of thousands of people 
are breaking into record stores and stealing CDs and tapes. Or they 
might as well be.  

The people I’m talking about are using software called Napster, which 
can be downloaded for free off the Internet. [...]

[...]

The bottom line is that using Napster to distribute copyrighted music 
is stealing, and while Napster may have blocked a few hundred 
thousand users from doing so, the looting is going to continue. Just 
because fans think they can hide behind technology to take what isn’t 
theirs doesn’t change the moral or legal implications of what they 
are doing. Will Metallica lose fans over the stand they have taken? 
Perhaps. But Napster proponents who see no issue with downloading an 
artist’s album for free should ask themselves if they would accept 
working for a year without getting paid. Metallica’s true fans will 
support the band against Napster.  

Howard King is a partner in King, Purtich, Holmes, Paterno & 
Berliner, a Los Angeles law firm specializing in intellectual 
property and the representation of musicians.  

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