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Patel to Music Companies: If You Own Music, Prove It



>http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,50625,00.html
>
>"In a stunning turnaround, a district court judge ruled Friday that the
>five major record labels must prove they own thousands of music copyrights.
>And prove those copyrights weren't used to monopolize and stifle the
>distribution of digital music.
>
>"If the labels can't prove ownership of the copyrights, they can't ask the
>courts for damages for copyright infringement. That may not mean Napster is
>in the clear. It depends on how the court rules on ownership of songs. For
>instance, if the artists retain ownership it would be up to those artists
>to make a deal with, or sue, companies like Napster.
>
>"Patel saved her harshest words for the claim that the recording industry
>used its ownership of music copyrights to control digital music
>distribution. While dozens of online music companies folded over the last
>two years, the major record labels were building their own services,
>MusicNet and PressPlay.
>
>"Napster lawyers have alleged the record industry withheld their copyrights
>from digital music services until three of the major labels could launch
>MusicNet. Once that service was launched, just days after Napster was shut
>down, company could only obtain wildly restrictive licenses to sell music."



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