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Famous folk among those filing briefs on file-sharing

Wed Jan 26, 6:50 AM ET Business - USATODAY.com


By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

An avalanche of music industry professionals, state attorneys
general and educators, as well as U.S. Solicitor General Paul
Clement, filed briefs with the Supreme Court Tuesday asking to have
a controversial Internet file-sharing decision overturned.


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The top court is scheduled in March to hear the case of the record
labels and movie studios, vs. file-sharing companies Grokster and
Morpheus. Lower courts found that users of their systems were liable
for copyright infringement, but the owners weren't.


Among those who filed briefs: The Eagles, the Dixie Chicks (news -
web sites), Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Tom Jones and
Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson.


"There is no more important case for the future of our business,"
said Don Henley of the Eagles. "These systems promote copyright
violations on an unprecedented scale."


About 13 billion songs were available for unauthorized free trading
on online swap networks in 2004, according to Internet measurement
service BigChampagne. Around 200 million songs last year were sold
to consumers at authorized sites such as Apple's iTunes and Yahoo's
Musicmatch.


The flip side to the music and movie industry position is that
overturning the Grokster case would stifle innovation.


Supporters point to the 1984 Betamax ruling, when the high court
said that VCRs weren't liable for copyright infringement, a decision
that ultimately paved the way for new products such as today's iPod
digital music device and TiVo (news - web sites) digital video
recorder.


"Betamax established a clear legal principle," says Gary Shapiro,
president of the Consumer Electronics Association, which plans to
file its own briefs next month in support of Grokster/Morpheus.


"A product is legal if it has legal uses," he says. "We're petrified
of what the court could do to limit new technology."


The number of people rounded up by the studios and labels to urge
the court to overturn the decision could seem daunting, but Fred von
Lohmann, one of the lawyers representing Grokster, says it was no
different in 1984.


"All the prominent movie stars of the day talked about how the VCR
was the death of Hollywood," he says. "The court wasn't fooled then
by the parochial interests of one industry, and it won't be now."


Michael Weiss (news - web sites), CEO of StreamCast, which owns
Morpheus, said companies like his "can be part of the solution for
the future of digital distribution of entertainment and is not part
of the problem."


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Press Release Source: Palace Sports and Entertainment


DTE Energy Music Theatre Listed as 2004 Top Attended Amphitheatre
and Honored With 'Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue' Nomination by
Pollstar Magazine
Tuesday January 25, 1:00 pm ET
Meadow Brook Music Festival Also Enjoys Another Successful Season


AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- DTE Energy Music
Theatre was listed as the world's most attended outdoor concert
venue in 2004 for the 14th consecutive year and was nominated
as "Best Major Outdoor Concert Venue" in Pollstar magazine's annual
Concert Industry Readers Poll. It is the 12th time it has been
nominated under the ownership and management of Palace Sports and
Entertainment (PS&E) and it won the honor in 2000.
ADVERTISEMENT


Results of the poll will be announced by the leading entertainment
trade publication in February.

Overall, more than 834,000 guests attended DTE Energy Music
Theatre's 68 shows, far exceeding the second most attended
amphitheatre listed in Pollstar's year-end chart, the Tweeter Center
For The Performing Arts in Massachusetts, with 468,400. PS&E also
ranked ninth in total tickets on the World Top 100 Promoters list.

Meadow Brook Music Festival on the campus of Oakland University
posted another successful summer as more than 170,000 guests enjoyed
43 events.

"We are pleased with the fine turnout for our outdoor venues this
summer; it shows that our area concert-goers are still the best in
the nation," said Tom Wilson, President and CEO of PS&E. "Despite
poor early summer weather, a slow economy and the cancellation of
several major tours, we maintained our attendance pace at both
amphitheatres and we would like to thank our Detroit music fans for
their loyalty."

DTE Energy Music Theatre hosted its traditional wide variety of
musical entertainment including 18 sold out shows: Blink 182 with
The Used and Taking Back Sunday (May 21); Clay Walker with Al Lopez
(June 5); Creedence Clearwater Revisited with Randy Brock (June 26);
Tim McGraw with Big & Rich and The Warren Brothers (July 2);
Nickelback and 3 Doors Down with Puddle of Mudd and Thornley (July
6); John Michael Montgomery (July 11); Evanescence with Seether and
Three Days Grace - pavilion only (July 15); Beach Boys - evening
performance (July 17); "Projekt Revolution" Linkin Park with Snoop
Dogg, The Used, KORN, Less Than Jake and more (July 26); John Mayer
with Maroon5 and DJ Logic (August 6); Clint Black with Gary Allan
(August 8); Barenaked Ladies and Alanis Morissette (August 12);
OZZfest 2004 (August 17); Lynyrd Skynyrd with .38 Special (August
22); Kid Rock & Twisted Brown Trucker with John Nicholson (August
26, 27 and 28); and Alan Jackson with Martina McBride (September 25).

Other major summer tours making strong showings at DTE Energy Music
Theatre included: Montgomery Gentry and Dierks Bentley (June 18);
KISS with Poison (June 30); Michael W. Smith and MercyMe with David
Crowder Band (July 13); Josh Groban with Mindi Abair (August 7); Rod
Stewart (August 18); and Fleetwood Mac (September 14).

Meadow Brook Music Festival continued is tradition of providing
quality events covering a wide gamut of entertainment including
Melissa Etheridge with Kate Clinton (June 12); Primus (June 14);
Crosby, Stills and Nash (July 7); Jewel with Joe Firstman (July 14);
Harry Connick Jr. (August 6); The Allman Brothers Band with The
Bottle Rockets (August 29); and Norah Jones with Amos Lee (September
8). Meadow Brook also hosted the best in comedy with Carrot Top
(July 30); Lewis Black with Dave Dyer (July 31); Weird Al Yankovic
(August 19); and Richard Jeni (August 28), as well as family shows,
five performances of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (July 16-18,
August 7-8) and the International Wine & Food Festival (June 19-20).

PS&E ownership includes The Palace and DTE Energy Music Theatre. The
organization also manages Meadow Brook Music Festival on the campus
of Oakland University. Combined, PS&E's Michigan venues average 300
events and 3.5 million guests annually.

The Palace has been voted Arena of the Year eight times by
Performance magazine and twice by Pollstar magazine and is listed
annually among North America's top-grossing arenas. Voted "Best
Outdoor Concert Venue" in Pollstar's 2000 Readers' Poll, DTE Energy
Music Theatre has been listed as the nation's most attended
amphitheater by Amusement Business/Billboard each of the 13 years of
PS&E ownership.

PS&E also owns the leasehold rights to the St. Pete Times Forum in
Tampa, Florida, a 1999 and 2004 recipient of the Prime Site Award by
Facilities & Event Management magazine and one of North America's
top-grossing arenas annually.