Napster Makes Up with Dre, Metallica

Thu., Jul. 12, 2001 4:00 PM PDT by Mark Armstrong

Metallica and Dr. Dre have kissed and made up with Napster--even if it was just like hugging a corpse.

The embattled song-swapper offered a semi-apology from its deathbed Thursday, announcing that it's reached an "accord" with its rock-star nemeses after a bitter 18-month legal battle.

Just one day after a federal judge ordered Napster shut down until it can block all unauthorized music from its site, company CEO Hank Barry announced a legal settlement and expressed contrition for Napster's war of words with Metallica.

"We respect what they've done and regret any harm which this dispute may have caused them," Barry said. "Metallica has taken a courageous stand and a tough and principled approach to the protection of its name and creative output, and that of other artists. We are delighted that we now have the opportunity to work with Metallica to develop a new business model that will be responsive to the artistic right to choose."

Replied Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich: "It's good that they're going legit."

"I think we've resolved this in a way that works for fans, recording artists and songwriters alike," Ulrich said in a statement. "Our beef hasn't been with the concept of sharing music; everyone knows that we've never objected to our fans trading tapes of our live concert performances. The problem we had with Napster was that they never asked us or other artists if we wanted to participate in their business."

Financial details of the settlement were not disclosed. But attorney Howard King, who represents both Dre and Metallica, said "there is a payment that was made...and it certainly covers my clients' costs."

"That wasn't the motivating factor," King added. "The important thing is that they got the absolute promise of Napster to not put up music without the artists' consent, and what they get is vindication and an apology."

In return, Metallica and Dre have agreed to allow the sharing of some of their songs "once an acceptable model is in place that ensures payment to artists and publishers for the use of their works."

Beyond his initial lawsuit, Dre never became as vocal about the Napster battle as his hard-rocker cohorts in Metallica. But the hip-hop pioneer and ?berproducer said Thursday he's pleased with the end result.

"I work hard making music--that's how I earn my living," he said in a statement. "Now that Napster's agreed to respect that, I don't have any beef with them."

Of course, the settlement may be too little, too late for Napster, considering it's currently not in service and its future is in doubt. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ordered the site to remain down until it can show that "100 percent" of unauthorized songs have been blocked out. Napster's lawyers had argued to Patel that their filtering technology was "99 percent effective."

Patel first ordered Napster to begin blocking songs in March. And since then, the company has tried a wide range of filtering software to weed out copyrighted songs. Without most of those songs, swapping has reached a near-standstill and music fans have fled to other sites to search for freebies.

The file-sharing service has been disabled since late June, as Napster tried to install new software and create a new business model protecting copyright holders. Barry, meanwhile, vowed to appeal Wednesday's ruling and find a way to survive.

Napster founder Shawn Fanning, who paraded around in a Metallica T-shirt last year during the MTV Video Music Awards, offered his own olive branch.

"We're pleased that this chapter is behind us," he said.