Record labels were dealt yet another legal blow today in their quest to curb online music sharing. In a unanimous decision, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the Canadian Recording Industry Association’s appeal to force Internet service providers to release the names and addresses of 29 people alleged to be trading copious amounts of music with the world.
Their names are hidden by pseudonyms such as Geekboy(at)KaZaA or Jordana(at)KaZaA. The 29 individuals are suspected of collectively making 43,541 songs available to any web surfer for free. “The decision recognizes and affirms the right of privacy for individual Canadians,” said Howard Knopf, a copyright lawyer with Macera and Jarzyna in Ottawa who represented the public’s interest during the case.
But the music industry wasn’t completely shut out. The court suggested CRIA start its legal quest over and come back to the court with stronger, and more current, evidence.
The material against the 29 people, collected by New York-based MediaSentry on behalf of CRIA, was based on screen grabs showing a list of songs placed in a shared folder. It dates back to late 2003. “The appeal will be dismissed without prejudice to the plaintiffs’ right to commence a further application for disclosure of the identity of the `users’ taking into account these reasons,” wrote Justice Edgar Sexton.As well, the judges refrained from making grand conclusions on copyright laws — specifically about whether downloading or uploading music should be illegal.
In fact, the lower court shouldn’t have broached the subject, said today’s ruling. ‘Conclusions . . . should not have been made in the very preliminary stage of this action,” Sexton said in the written decision. “They would require a consideration of the evidence as well as the law applicable to such evidence after it has been properly adduced.”
Finding out the identities from Internet service providers, such as Shaw, Rogers and Bell, is a necessary step in order to begin suing people who make songs available online through sharing networks like Kazaa and IMesh.
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