German Constitutional Court Blocks Napster Suit

djmutex writes "In an urgent ruling, the German Constitutional Court has temporarily blocked the Napster copyright violations class action of several American recording companies and artists against Bertelsmann. The court decided that the German court in Düsseldorf, which was, according to international conventions, required to serve the writ, may not do so until the Constitutional Court has checked that the suit does not violate Bertelsmann's rights granted by the German constitution. Since, according to those agreements, the service is a precondition for both the suit to proceed in the U.S. as well as the later acceptance of the U.S. ruling in Germany, the lawsuit is for now halted. It is unclear when the Constitutional Court will definitely decide, but it is not generally famed for its tempo on final rulings, and it also stated in the press release (in German) that constitutional rights could possibly be violated if "proceedings before state courts are obviously abused to discipline competitors through public media pressure and the risk of a conviction"." Reuters has a summary.

Comments

Hmmm.

[James A. A. Joyce]

Erm - isn't Napster supposed to have died by now?

I will comment on this article

[Anonymous Coward]

I have not read the article, but I will declare victory for free speech. I will also make a vague jab at the DMCA, and express my deep-seated hatred for the evil RIAA.

Even though I don't speak German and I have no understanding of how the legal system works in Germany, I'll act like I know what I'm talking about when I make my ridiculously uninformed comment.

Re:I will comment on this article

[The Kow]

In return I will argue with a trivial detail of your conjectures about the German legal system, and, immediately after claiming IANAL-Protected Status, assume the posture that I too know what I'm talking about.

This brief dialogue will spawn a completely off-topic thread of which dozens participate, most likely on the terrible ills of the neanderthal US legal system as compared to those of the enlightened European nations.

Despite having little to nothing to do with the actual topic of the article, the rhetoric that follows will undoubtedly get moderated up, increasing its visibility tenfold, and therefore granting us a perverse status of legitimacy.

Then I will offer forth a silly, contrived quote for a signature.

Re:I will comment on this article

[NewWazoo]

I will respond with a critique on your intelligence, and then correct some pedantic misunderstanding you've had of the German legal system, while missing entirely the fact that the basis for your argument was flawed.

Brandon

Re:I will comment on this article

[Bob McCown]

Whereas I will riducule your spelling and grammar, and suggest that your remedial communication skills are on par with Piltdown Man.

Re:I will comment on this article

[jcsehak]

I will post a link to the most obscene picture I can find on the web, disguised as an on-topic href, because I am such a tool in all other respects of my life, the only hope I have of influencing people in any way is by making unknown and unseen strangers lose their lunch.

Re:I will comment on this article

[tds67]

I shall arrive too late to provide any interesting commentary, since anything useful or funny will have already been said in the preceeding 12 replies. And yet, the lure of attaching my post to the "4" and "5" scores above in the hopes of acheiving a "2" score will cause me to make an attempt, anyway. It is akin to the jackal fighting the vulture for the wildebeest left over from the lions' feast, on the wild plains of intellectualism and opinion.

Re: I will comment on this article

[gidds]

This brief dialogue will spawn a completely off-topic thread of which dozens participate, most likely on the terrible ills of the neanderthal US legal system as compared to those of the enlightened European nations.

At which point I will pick up on errors of grammar (such as 'of which dozens participate') and spelling ('neanderthal' should be capitalised), which will itself spawn a long thread of alternate pedantry and abuse. I may even take the opportunity to launch a tirade on the sorry state of your country's educational system, how much better the standards of English are in my country, and what a sad reflection it is on techies today that they don't even care about good English...

Re:I will comment on this article

[Anonymous Coward]

I, of course, will point out a completely off-topic, but decimating reply about how in nature it is the jackal who makes the kill. misses your entire point and has at least one major grammatical error, possibly caused by editing.

It will be rated three or four, by moderators who have lost all control of their thinking process.

This, in turn, will spawn one or two comments on the moderation system.

Re: I will comment on this article

[Wordsmith]

In turn, I will note a simple spelling error in your post, such as "grammer," and guffaw to myself over the irony. Optionally, I may spell something wrong myself, or note a so-called error that was, in fact, perfectly correct.

Re:I will comment on this article

[0x0d0a]

I shall refer back to moderation fiascos in the past. I shall point out that clearly the Slashcode moderating system is quite broken, and that the dictatorial abuses of those like Jamie are sending Slashdot down the tubes. I shall refer interested parties to kuro5hin for a freer and more open forum system. I will fail to close my link to kuro5hin, and the entire second half of my post will be a link to kuro5hin.

Re:my impression of German law

[cioxx]

The German legal system is refreshingly weird

Just like German porn.

Haven for /.ers

[gagy]

First they oust Windows in Munich, then they do all kinds of crazy things that are good for the general public such as this. Now They're protecting people's rights. It seems like Germany is the place where all /.ers should move to. Although, then what would you complain about?

Re:Haven for /.ers

[Anonymous Coward]

Although, then what would you complain about?

The Americans, like everyone else of course!

Re:Haven for /.ers

[Anonymous Coward]

/.ers can't move to Germany. The women in Germany are very loose, so 90% of /.ers not getting laid would get laid, therefore no one would have any time to post anything. Germany could be the death of /.!

I'm Moving

[suwain_2]

Anyone else packing up their things and moving to Germany? ;)

allow me to clarify

[bersl2]

I meant "refreshingly weird" as a compliment, as opposed to "who forgot to flush the toilet?!" weird, which describes the US legal system.

Ok, I'm going to sound like a simpleton but...

[Anonymous Coward]

What does this exactly mean, considering that Napster is history?

Germany

[Anonymous Coward]

First they have the balls to sue our companies (Microsoft), then they have the brass balls to drop MS and decide to use their shithole 'SuSE' operating system. Now they block *our* lawsuits against their companies.

Wake up, people. We are in global competition and some people are NOT playing fair.

How SCO Can You Get?

[Danious]

...constitutional rights could possibly be violated if "proceedings before state courts are obviously abused to discipline competitors through public media pressure and the risk of a conviction".

Now, if that isn't a neat description of the whole SCO strategy, I don't know what is. If ony SCO had filed in Germany, we'd have their assess :-)

Re:WOW

[Rolo Tomasi]

This shit is sick [...] whiny bullshit think of the kids crap [...] little fuckfart

Umm ... do you have a personal issue with this guy? Did he pork your girlfriend, or mail you feces or something? Or is that some kind of Canadian inferiority complex, which manifests itself in uncontrolled bouts of profanity?

Seriously, I wanna know.

Collage students must pay too (derivative works)

[Anonymous Coward]

I should point out that rap artists have already faced this problem, and they had to pay. According to American law, if you make a collage, that is a derivative work, and you still have to pay royalties.