A federal court has allowed record labels to continue a lawsuit against Bertelsmann and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, both onetime backers of the defunct Napster file-swapping network.
UMG Recordings and Capital Records are the rival entertainment conglomerates suing Bertelsmann–which owns BMG Music–and the Silicon Valley venture group for copyright infringement, alleging that each had substantive control of Napster during that company’s anarchic music-swapping peak.
Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled Wednesday that the case should proceed, because the record labels have made claims that are sweeping enough to need a full trial to rule on.
“Rather than alleging that (Bertelsmann and Hummer Winblad) merely supplied Napster with necessary funding…the plaintiffs have specifically accused the defendants of assuming control over Napster’s operations,” Patel wrote.
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