Why did the Recording Industry Association of America sue Napster?

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued Napster because the service facilitated widespread copyright infringement by allowing millions of users to share and download digital music files without authorization.12

The RIAA argued that Napster’s platform enabled users to violate the copyrights of recording artists, effectively turning them into "digital pirates" who bypassed the purchase of legitimate records, tapes, or compact discs. While Napster users contended that sharing files constituted fair use—arguing that they had already purchased the music and were simply shifting it to a different format—the RIAA maintained that users did not have the right to make copyrighted material available to thousands of others for the creation of unauthorized digital copies.31

The legal battle centered on the protection of intellectual property. The RIAA successfully obtained a court injunction, leading to the shutdown of Napster’s servers in 2001. This action was a pivotal moment in the industry's fight against piracy and the subsequent development of digital rights management technologies.321