With Universal Music due to conclude its case against Sharman Networks next week, users and copyright pundits will soon find out whether this peer-to-peer (‘P2P’) file-sharing application is permissible in the Australian jurisdiction. Concluding arguments were last week submitted to Wilcox J of the Federal Court of Australia, marking the end to another chapter in the litigation of P2P applications and technology:
Reporters, law students and observers filled a Sydney courtroom this week to hear the lawyers’ final oral submissions to Justice Murray Wilcox. Closing arguments wrapped up Wednesday, with the predictable rhetoric emanating from both camps. The music industry said Kazaa is a “system” that encourages piracy on an unprecedented scale; Sharman Networks says it can’t be held responsible for the illegal actions of its users, and that its software has legitimate, non-infringing uses.
And what about Apple’s iPod? Making personal copies of CDs onto a portable music device — even one as iconic and ubiquitous as Apple’s — is still an infringing use, albeit one engaged in by many. But such transcoding and duplication isn’t (arguably) allowed under Australian copyright law, as this Wired article notes. Does this then make the iPod a ‘system that encourages [infringement] on an unprecedented scale’? It seems very doubtful whether similar arguments could be made in such a case.
Regardless of the forthcoming decision, it seems clear that P2P filesharing will continue. Though once popular, Kazaa is now a relatively insignificant force in online data transfer. In the event of a verdict for the plaintiff, it thus seems inevitable that another, more accessible (and as yet unlitigated) alternative will soon emerge.
