Kirk Hammett Still Believes Metallica "Were Right" To Sue Napster

[Miles Archer]

The dawn of the file-sharing era for mainstream music fans came with a lot of messiness between hardcore consumers and the record industry — a conflict that will forever be symbolized by the lawsuit filed by the members of Metallica against the early peer-to-peer network Napster.

That suit, filed in April of 2000, was just one of many ways that artists and labels tried stemming the tide of freely available music, but it became one of the biggest lightning rods in the passionate debate over the tension between the technological evolution of a medium and the protection of the artists responsible for creating it. To this day, there remain people who argue Metallica made a mistake by going after Napster — and effectively targeting some of their own fans in the bargain — but looking back, guitarist Kirk Hammett remains secure in his belief that the band did the right thing.

"It didn't do us any favors whatsoever. But you know what? We're still in the right on that — we're still right about Napster, no matter who's out there who's saying, 'Metallica was wrong,'" Hammett explained during an appearance on the Swedish program Nyhetsmorgon. "All you have to do is look at the state of the music industry, and that kind of explains the whole situation right there."

You can watch the interview below.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/metallica-kirk-hammett-napster/

[yallerdawg]

1. The internet has changed the concept of intellectual property rights forever.

Try as they all may, that genie ain't goin' back in the bottle.

'Metallica' has stayed on the road for decades to make money. It's another reason why live acts are so musically and visually perfect now, they don't really make money off of "album" studio work now. They make it in 250 shows a year - or more.

[Miles Archer]

6. Aerosmith's "Music From Another Dimension"

Their last album of original material...not bad, actually, no Dianne Warren songs and more of a return to their original hard rock. Didn't sell well at all. People keep asking Joe Perry if they are going to make another album. He usually replies "Why bother," and then says everything you just said.

[crazycatlady]

2. I did a paper on this back in college (when it was news)

And I interviewed a band about their feelings on Napster (I saw them live before the paper was due).

They said that they were lucky to see 50 cents of a $20 album sale and that they made money from touring and merch (t-shirts, etc). They didn't mind people downloading their stuff on Napster if it meant they'd go see them live.

[Initech]

3. Honestly I think what happened to Napster was going to be an inevitibility.

Yeah we were all pissed when it happened but it eventually was going to at some point. If Metallica weren't the ones who started it someone else would have, and we probably would have been pissed at them too. The thing is they'll never get rid of piracy even though it is now acknowledged as a federal crime. But now with iTunes, streaming services, and app stores we have access to all the content we could ever want and then some. Sometimes sacrifices do have to be made for progress.

[OriginalGeek]

4. Meh

Sure they were right (or had the right) to sue their fans. I just thought it was stupid. And hypocritical for a band who made their name on underground tape-trading. They were selling out arenas before they ever got on the radio with their shitty Black Album and beyond. They got that big through tape trading and promising they'd never sell out for commercial interests. I remember James saying it clearly.

So fuck Lars and fuck Metallica. I still own the first 3 albums and $5.98 EP but now I only listen to mp3's I downloaded. I could even forgive them for wanting to protect their property (Lars claimed the suit was to protect the purity of the sound as mp3s were poor quality back then but I don't believe that.). I can't forgive the last 30 years of super-shit records.

I guess that's one way to stop illegal downloading - write shit that we don't want to download.

[OriginalGeek]

5. Oh, and meanwhile

bands this great are touring clubs and get a cult following at best:

&t=706s

All 3 better than Metallica. Heavier, more interesting and less obnoxious than Lars "Sellouts? Yeah we sell out arenas!" Ulrich.

And I get to see them all tomorrow night! schwing!

[Yavin4]

7. Instead of suing, the industry should have bought Napster, and made it their own.

You cannot sue technology away.