A federal judge said that evidence favours a coalition of entertainment companies in their copyright infringement case against a distributor of online file-sharing software.
United States District Judge Stephen Wilson made the statement on Monday during a hearing in the landmark case against the StreamCast firm behind the Morpheus file-swapping software.
”In the court’s view, the evidence is overwhelming in favour of the moving parties,” Wilson said.
The hearing was held to consider a motion for summary judgement by the coalition of Hollywood studios, music publishers and recording companies that filed the suit in 2001.
Meanwhile, negotiations continued between the plaintiffs and Sharman Networks, which distributes Kazaa file-swapping software. No agreement had been reached by Monday, a person familiar with the discussions said on condition of anonymity,
citing the confidential nature of the talks.
Sharman was not part of the motion heard on Monday. Wilson asked both sides to submit briefs about several unresolved issues by July 25 before he decides whether StreamCast could be held liable for the actions of Morpheus users or sends the case to a jury trial.
Charles Baker, attorney for StreamCast, conceded that Wilson’s statements suggested the court may be leaning toward ruling in favour of the entertainment companies.
”All indications are that he is going to issue a finding of liability,” Baker said. He added, however, that a court fight could follow over damages.
The US Supreme Court heard the case a year ago and ruled that file-sharing companies could be held liable for deliberately encouraging or inducing customers to commit online piracy.
Previously, lower courts in California had ruled that the entertainment companies could not hold StreamCast and another file-sharing firm, Grokster, liable for the actions of their users.
As part of its ruling, the Supreme Court sent the lawsuit back to Wilson’s jurisdiction.
In briefs filed in advance of Monday’s hearing, StreamCast argued that its business has never been based on fostering copyright infringement.
The matter has been repeatedly delayed amid sporadic settlement talks between all sides. In April, talks between StreamCast and the entertainment companies failed to yield a settlement.
Grokster agreed last fall to pay $50-million to settle. – Sapa-AP