Jeff Knowles and Julie Greer of Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass (San Francisco, California, USA) are highlighted under section "III. THE LAWSUITS," in the interview and article by Richard Nieva for Fortune Magazine.
"FORTUNE -- Like the birth of most great music movements -- Elvis on Ed Sullivan, Patti Smith at CBGB -- Napster was rebellious of convention, threatening to established norms, and, well, really loud. The tiny startup from Hull, Mass. launched in early-1999, grabbing the world's attention almost immediately. At its core was a clever-if-crude piece of software -- so-called peer-to-peer technology -- that allowed computers to easily send each other files over a network. It would transform the Internet into a maelstrom, definitively proving the web's power to create and obliterate value.
It brought the music industry to its knees, eventually leading to an unprecedented legal battle over intellectual property. On behalf of the five major music labels, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed suit against Napster on December 6, 1999. The case reunited RIAA's lawyer, Russell Frackman, with an old colleague, Jeff Knowles."
Jeff and Julie represented music publishers and songwriters, who, along with the record companies, successfully sought to enjoin Napster's infringing activities. Click here to read the full article and recollections from Jeff and Julie of a ground-breaking, hard fought case about the most important -- and one of the most controversial -- startups in early Internet history.
