J. Langenderfer et Dl. Cook, Copyright policies and issues raised by A&M Records v. Napster: "The shot heard 'round the world" or "not with a bang but a whimper?", J PUBL POL, 20(2), 2001, pp. 280-288
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the case of A&M Records v. N
apster (2001a) represented a resounding legal victory for the record compan
ies over the largest of the Internet music exchange services. Napster's ult
imate survival is uncertain at best, but the key for the record industry is
not Napster's eventual life or death per se. Rather, final victory will be
determined by whether the music industry can parlay its legal triumph over
Napster into any, real control of the music piracy that still thrives on t
he Internet, threatening to alter intellectual property, exchange permanent
ly. In this paper, the authors analyze the legal arguments related to Inter
net digital music transfer and the future of the music industry in light of
the current legal and technological environment.