Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer v. Grokster Ltd.

• Court: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Decided: August 15, 2005
• Docket: 03-55894
• Status: Published

Opinion

FOR PUBLICATION UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS,  INC.; COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC.; DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.; PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION; TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION; UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS LLP, f/k/a UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC.; NEW LINE CINEMA CORPORATION; TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, LP; ATLANTIC RECORDING CORPORATION; ATLANTIC RHINO VENTURES, INC., d/b/a Rhino No. 03-55894 Entertainment, Inc.; ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC.;  D.C. No. LONDON-SIRE RECORDS, INC., LP; CV-01-08541-SVW WARNER BROTHERS RECORDS, INC.; WEA INTERNATIONAL INC.; WARNER MUSIC LATINA, INC., f/k/a WEA Latina, Inc.; ARISTA RECORDS, INC.; BAD BOY RECORDS; CAPITOL RECORDS, INC.; HOLLYWOOD RECORDS, INC.; INTERSCOPE RECORDS; LAFACE RECORDS; MOTOWN RECORD COMPANY; RCA RECORDS LABEL, a unit of BMG Music d/b/a BMG Entertainment; SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, INC.; 

10593 10594 MGM STUDIOS v. GROKSTER

UMG RECORDINGS, INC.; VIRGIN  RECORDS AMERICA, INC.; WALT DISNEY RECORDS, a division of ABC, Inc.; ZOMBA RECORDING CORP., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. GROKSTER LTD.; STREAMCAST  NETWORKS, INC., f/k/a Musiccity.Com, Inc., Defendants-Appellees, and SHARMAN NETWORKS LIMITED; LEF INTERACTIVE PTY LTD., Defendants.  MGM STUDIOS v. GROKSTER 10595

JERRY LEIBER, individually d/b/a  Jerry Leiber Music; MIKE STOLLER, individually and d/b/a Mike Stoller Music; PEER INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION, PEER MUSIC LTD., SONGS OF PEER LTD.; CRITERION MUSIC CORPORATION; FAMOUS MUSIC CORPORATION, BRUIN MUSIC COMPANY; ENSIGN MUSIC CORPORATION; AND LET’S TALK SHOP, INC., d/b/a Beau-DI-O-DO Music, on behalf of themselves No. 03-55901  and all other similarly situated, Plaintiffs-Appellants, D.C. No. CV-01-09923-SVW v. CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT BV, aka Fasttrack; SHARMAN NETWORKS LIMITED; LEF INTERACTIVE PTY LTD., Defendants, and GROKSTER LTD.; STREAMCAST NETWORKS, INC., f/k/a Musiccity.Com, Inc., Defendants-Appellees.  10596 MGM STUDIOS v. GROKSTER

METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS,  INC.; COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC.; DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC.; PARAMOUNT PICTURES CORPORATION; TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION; UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS LLP, f/k/a Universal City Studios, Inc.; NEW LINE CINEMA CORPORATION; TIME WARNER ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY, LP; ATLANTIC RECORDING CORPORATION; ATLANTIC RHINO VENTURES, INC., d/b/a Rhino Entertainment, Inc.; ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC.; LONDON-SIRE RECORDS, INC., LP; No. 03-56236 WARNER BROTHERS RECORDS, INC.; WEA INTERNATIONAL INC.; WARNER MUSIC LATINA, INC., f/k/a WEA  D.C. No. CV-01-08541-SVW Latina, Inc.; ARISTA RECORDS, INC.; ORDER BAD BOY RECORDS; CAPITOL RECORDS, INC.; HOLLYWOOD RECORDS, INC.; INTERSCOPE RECORDS; LAFACE RECORDS; MOTOWN RECORD COMPANY; RCA RECORDS LABEL, a unit of BMG Music d/b/a BMG Entertainment; SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, INC.; UMG RECORDINGS, INC.; VIRGIN RECORDS AMERICA, INC.; WALT DISNEY RECORDS, a division of ABC, Inc.; ZOMBA RECORDING CORP., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v.  MGM STUDIOS v. GROKSTER 10597

GROKSTER LTD.; STREAMCAST  NETWORKS, INC., f/k/a Musiccity.Com, Inc.,  Defendants-Appellees.  On Remand from the United States Supreme Court

Filed August 15, 2005

Before: Robert Boochever, John T. Noonan, and Sidney R. Thomas, Circuit Judges.

COUNSEL

Russell J. Frackman and George M. Borkowski, Mitchell Sil- berberg, et al., LLP, Los Angeles, California, for plaintiffs- appellants Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Bad Boy Records, Capitol Records, Inc., Hollywood Records, Inc., Interscope Records, Laface Records, Motown Record Co., RCA Records Label, Sony Music Entertainment, Inc., UMG Recordings, Inc., Virgin Records America, Inc., Walt Disney Records, Inc., and Zomba Recording Corp.

Thomas G. Hentoff, David E. Kendall, Williams & Connolly, Washington, DC, for plaintiffs-appellants Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer Studios, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Disney Enterprises, Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp., Twentieth Cen- tury Fox Film Corp., and Universal City Studios, LLP.

Robert M. Schwartz, O’Melveny & Myers, LLP, Los Ange- les, California, for Newline Cinema Corp., Time Warner Entertainment Co., Atlantic Recording Corp., Atlantic Rhino Ventures, Inc., Elektra Entertainment Group, Inc., London- Sire Records, Inc., LP, Warner Brothers Records, Inc., WEA 10598 MGM STUDIOS v. GROKSTER International, Inc., Warner Music Latina, Inc., and Arista Records, Inc.

Kelli L. Sager, Andrew J. Thomas, and Jeffrey H. Blum, Davis, Wright, Tremaine, LLP, Los Angeles, California; Carey Ramos, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, New York, New York, for plaintiffs-appellants Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Peer International Corp., Peer Music Ltd., Songs of Peer Ltd., Criterion Music Corp., Famous Music Corp., Bruin Music Co., Ensign Music Corp, and Let’s Talk Shop, Inc.

Mark Lemley and Michael H. Page, Keker & Van Nest, San Francisco, California; Jennifer Stisa Granick, Stanford Law School, Stanford, California, for defendant-appellee Grokster Ltd.

Cindy A. Cohn and Fred von Lohmann, Electronic Frontier Foundation, San Francisco, California; Charles S. Baker, Munsch, Hardt, Kopf & Harr, P.C., Austin, Texas, for defendant-appellee StreamCast Networks, Inc.

Hank L. Goldsmith, Proskauer, Rose LLP, Los Angeles, Cali- fornia, for amici Bureau International des Societes Gerant Les Droits D’enregistrement et de Reproduction Mecanique, et al.

John M. Genga, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, Los Angeles, California, for amici Law Professors and Treatise Authors Neil Boorstyn, Jay Dougherty, James Gibson, Robert Gorman, Hugh Hansen, Douglas Lichtman, Roger Milgrim, Arthur Miller, and Eric Schwartz.

Ian C. Ballon, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, Los Angeles, California, for amici American Film Marketing Association, et al.

Jeff G. Knowles, Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass, San Fran- cisco, California, for amici American Federation of Musi- cians, et al. MGM STUDIOS v. GROKSTER 10599 Alan Malasky, Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, LLP; Wash- ington, DC, for amici The Commissioner of Baseball, et al.

Matthew S. Steinberg, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Santa Mon- ica, California, for amici National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc.

Jennifer M. Urban, Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic, University of California at Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley, California, for amici 40 Intellectual Property and Technology Law Professors.

Jason M. Mahler, Washington, D.C., for amicus Computer & Communications Industry Association, Netcoalition Industry Association.

Christopher A. Hansen, ACLU Foundation, New York, New York, for amici American Civil Liberties Union, et al.

Roderick G. Dorman, Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman, LLP, Los Angeles, California, for amicus Sharman Networks Ltd.

ORDER

In conformance with the mandate of the Supreme Court, we remand this case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the opinion of the United States Supreme Court. See Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 125 S. Ct. 2764 (2005). PRINTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE—U.S. COURTS BY THOMSON/WEST—SAN FRANCISCO

The summary, which does not constitute a part of the opinion of the court, is copyrighted © 2005 Thomson/West.