Australian court: Kazaa breached copyright

A court has ruled that popular file-swapping network Kazaa breaches copyright in Australia and gave the service's owners two months to modify their web site to prevent further piracy by its millions of users.

Although the ruling is only enforceable in Australia, the record industry hailed it as a victory that would resonate around the world.

The Associated Press reports in The New York Times (5 September) that the Federal Court ruling culminated a long-running court battle between Australia's record industry and Kazaa.

The 10 defendants in the case include Kazaa's owners, Sharman Networks Ltd., and Sharman's Sydney-based chief executive officer, Nikki Hemming, as well as Altnet, a company that provided some of the software for the Kazaa Web site.

The AP/NYT report says that Federal Court Judge Murray Wilcox found six of them, including Hemming, Sharman Networks Ltd. and Altnet, infringed copyright and ordered them to pay 90 percent of the record industry's costs in the case. A hearing will be held at a later date to establish damages.

Lawyers for Kazaa said they would appeal but made no immediate detailed response to the ruling. They had argued that the software is no different from a tape recorder or photocopier -- and that Kazaa could not control copyright infringement by users of the network.

But Wilcox said that they actively encouraged users to share files, the vast majority of which were copyrighted material, AP reports. Wilcox said that Sharman and Altnet should stop authorising Kazaa users swap copyright material.

AP reports that, if it wants to continue its operations, Wilcox said Kazaa's owners have to ensure that new versions of the software filters unlicensed copyright material and he ordered them to press existing users to upgrade their software to a new version that filters unlicensed material.