Reversing her ruling of 10 days ago, US District Judge Audrey B. Collins on Monday denied the request of the Recording Industry Association of America to issue an injunction against Diamond Multimedia. The RIAA sought to prevent Diamond from releasing its Rio PMP300 portable MP3 player, a Walkman-like device that lets users upload music files directly from their computers.
"We're free to distribute the Rio," an elated Ken Wirt, spokesman for Diamond told Wired News from outside the Los Angeles courtroom. The company plans to ship the unit in November.
RIAA asserted that release of the Rio unit would violate the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act, which requires makers or importers of digital recording devices to pay a 2 percent royalty to the music industry. It also demanded Diamond implement procedures to prevent serial copies. The association is concerned that growth of an unregulated MP3 format will hurt attempts to create legitimate online musical distribution.
MP3 is the most popular compression format for saving and exchanging music files on the Internet.
Diamond's case appeared to have been bolstered by the submitted testimony of James M. Burger, a Washington lawyer who was part of Apple's legal team from 1987 to 1996. Involved with intellectual-property policy, he helped craft the legislation.
Burger's testimony, a copy of which appeared on the hub site MP3.com, asserted that the RIAA "gave an inaccurate account of the legislative history of the AHRA." Only if the Rio could accept input from a consumer-electronics device -- like a stereo -- would it be covered by the act, he said. Since Rio is designed to record from a computer, the statute should exempt the player.
Burger pointed out that uses of computers and peripherals are still governed by the copyright law, "even though the AHRA does not impose technological requirements on their manufacture."
"This is a great victory for music fans around the world and a wonderful day for independent record labels and aspiring recording artists, who now have an exciting alternative channel for the distribution of their music," said Bob Kohn in a statement. Kohn is a high-tech and entertainment lawyer and chairman of GoodNoise, a company that markets music on the Internet.
"This case pitted the RIAA, which represents the six big record distributors against indie labels and young recording artists. The RIAA was wrong on the law, and the judge recognized that," Kohn said.
The decision evidently allowed industry players such as Michael Robertson, publisher of MP3.com and a disc of MP3 songs that will be included with the Rio, to move back into visionary mode.
"Hopefully," said Robertson, "this ruling will remind people that the battle for digital music cannot and should not be fought in courtrooms or by lobbyists. It is a battle over the consumer's heart, ears, and pocketbook."
The RIAA did not return phone calls seeking comment on Monday's decision.
