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Property Law Keyed to Singer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. (MGM) v. Grokster, Ltd.
ProfessorTodd Berman
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
Grokster (D) is a distributor of software products that actively promote the sharing of electronic files through peer-to-peer networks, without using servers, and so increasing the speed of transfer and lowering costs. Using their “FastTrack”technology allows the users to share files directly with other computers using compatible software. MGM (P) alleged that Grokster distributed their software with the intention of promoting the replication and dissemination of copyrighted works and thus infringing the Copyright Act. MGM experts testified that their analysis showed 90 percent of files offered for download with FastTrack were in fact copyrighted material. The district court agreed that Grokster’s software could be used to download copyrighted files, which infringed on MGM’s copyrights. However, it held that the use of Grokster software by third parties did not prove that the distributors had actual knowledge of infringement in particular. Thus it granted summary judgment in favor of Grokster. This was affirmed in the appellate court, and MGM appealed the verdict.
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