Metallica has decided to drop Yale University as one of the co-defendants in its lawsuit against Napster after the institution announced that it would block students' access to the music distribution site through its server.
On April 13, Metallica and co-plaintiffs Creeping Death and E/M Ventures filed the suit in a U.S. District Court, claiming that the Napster online music distribution site encouraged visitors "to unlawfully exchange with others copyrighted songs and sound recordings without the knowledge or permission of Metallica" (see "Metallica Sets Legal Sights On Napster").
The following day, Yale sent out a university-wide e-mail announcing the institution's decision to suspend access to Napster. The message indicated that the university was intent on preserving intellectual property rights and copyright laws and would block admittance to the site until the courts had clarified the pertinent laws in the case.
Because of Yale's quick action to resolve the matter, Metallica has dismissed them as a co-defendant from the suit and will not seek damages against the university.
In a statement released by Metallica on Wednesday, the band wrote that it "[appreciated] the prompt and responsible reaction by Yale University in dealing with the gross violations of copyright laws and the protection of intellectual property."
Yale had been aware of the potential legal problem of making Napster available to students as early as February and warned students about the possible copyright infringement issues in a university-wide e-mail.
Rapper-producer Dr. Dre has also taken umbrage with the Napster online music distribution system and has sent a legal notice giving the site until Friday to remove the his recordings from its collection of MP3 files (see "Dr. Dre Slaps Napster With Warning").
For complete digital music coverage, check out the Digital Music Reports.
