Lawyers for a company that makes software to trade music over the Internet sought protection from copyright liability in federal court Monday, March 27, 2000, trying to defend the firm from a lawsuit brought by the recording industry. San Mateo, California-based Napster Inc. is accused by the Recording Industry Association of America of encouraging users of the company's software and computer servers to trade copyrighted music online without permission. The trade group, representing record companies and their artists, argued before Chief US District Judge Marilyn Patel that sharing music using Napster constitutes copyright infringement. Napster attorney Laurence Pulgram asked Patel to rule that part of the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act limited the company's potential liability.Source: The Hollywood Reporter and AP