(U-WIRE) BLOOMINGTON, Ind.-The outcome of a lawsuit filed last December in federal court in San Francisco might affect the future of the music industry and MP3s.

The Recording Industry Association of America sued Napster.com, which makes the MP3 file exchange program, in federal court in San Francisco. The lawsuit accuses the California-based Napster.com of “vicarious and contributory” copyright infringement, according to Napster.com’s web site.

The RIAA web site, www.riaa.com, says Napster.com “enables and facilitates piracy of music on an unprecedented scale.” The RIAA claims it is not trying to stifle technological advancements, and the site notes that “the suit is against Napster, the company, not MP3 technology.”

Law professor Marshall Leaffer, who has written several books on copyright issues, said that the suit might have merit.

“I definitely think copyright issues present a serious problem, and it boils down to the fact that the Napster web site is facilitating copyright infringement,” Leaffer said. “Even though they are not doing it directly, they can be held for contributing.”

Copyright infringement is illegal and involves using copyrighted work without permission, such as with copying music without consent.

“The copyright owners control the right to reproduce copyrighted work,” Leaffer said. “On one hand, there is a strong indication that a mass amount of copyright infringement is taking place. On the other hand, they would say if they are kept from using new technology that has valid legal applications, then they would be suppressing technological advancements.”

Napster’s web site says that it supports the rights of copyright holders and musicians and complies with the regulations and laws that go along with governing copyright.

“We will react locally depending on the outcome of the case, and we will certainly be interested to see how it goes, but we take no position on how it relates to one side or the other,” said Mark Bruhn, Indiana University’s information technology policy officer.

Leaffer said that the lawsuit shows that Napster is a national issue. “There is a lot of interest in copying music off the Internet, and this case shows larger concerns for these actions, which is hooked to much larger social issues,” he said.

Freshman Justin Guild, director of campus forum for UB, has organized a national forum, “Napster and the Future of Music on the Internet,” Tuesday concerning the issue. Guild said the lawsuit addresses the issue of the music industry being, or feeling like they are being, ripped off.

“Since Napster is getting sued, it affects the entire music industry, because there is no precedent, so there is nothing to go on,” Guild said. “So where do we go from here; is it just sharing music?”

Caroline Bruenderman is a Napster.com user, and she said the music industry has a good case, but she said she doubts Napster is seriously affecting sales.

“A lot of songs I like on Napster they don’t sell a lot of anymore because they are old songs,” Bruenderman said. “I use Napster for one song by an artist, but if I like an artist, then I would purchase their CD.”

Robert Meitus, a third year law student, who also worked with Guild on planning the forum, is going to be practicing the issue of copyright and intellectual property once he graduates.