Appeals Court May Hear Copyright Case

A federal appeals court may soon consider the entertainment industry’s copyright-infringement claims against two popular online file-sharing systems.

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles cleared the way for the major record labels, music publishers and movie studios to appeal his preliminary ruling in favor of the Morpheus and Grokster file-sharing networks, without having to wait for a final decision in the case.

The entertainment companies have 10 days to ask the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to accept their appeal, which the court is expected to do.

Wilson ruled April 25 that a recent version of the Morpheus and Grokster software didn’t violate copyright law, even though many users of the software were pirating music and movies.

Wilson is still considering whether to let the entertainment companies pursue claims based on earlier versions of the software.