NORTHERN DISTRICT of California Chief Judge Marilyn Hall Patel on Friday granted Napster Inc.’s request to pursue whether the major record labels have violated antitrust rules – a move that adds a new twist to the recording industry’s two-year copyright infringement suit against the music-swapping service.
Judge Patel said Redwood City, Calif.-based Napster could continue discovery into whether the labels had used their copyrights to unfairly boost their own online music subscription services. The judge’s move could eventually lead to new law in applying copyright misuse as a defense against infringement liability.
