The A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster case was a landmark case. It was the first case to address peer-to-peer file sharing. Napster was created in 1999 by then 18 year old Shawn Fanning, as a way for people to share and download music from a central server and other people's machines. Almost 20 record companies were involved in the suit against Napster.
Plaintiffs alleged both contributory and vicarious copyright infringement by Napster and filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in order to stop the exchange of plaintiffs' songs on the service immediately.In September 2001, Napster settled with songwriters and music publishers, agreeing to pay $26 million. Napster went bankrupt following the case.
This case is a very important case in U.S. history not only because of the scale but because it was one of the first cases involving a previously untouched issue. This case has also forced the law to keep up with technology.
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