The Offspring To Partner With Napster For Merchandise Sales
Napster and the Offspring have reached an agreement that will allow the Offspring to continue to sell merchandise that bears the Napster logo. The agreement was made after Napster contacted the Offspring last Friday (6/2) and asked that the band stop selling such merchandise.
Contrary to published reports, Napster did not present the band with a legal cease-and-desist order after the company found that the band was selling Napster merchandise via the band's official website.
"There was no legal document," said Dan Wool, a spokesperson for Napster. "[Napster's cease and desist request] was an e-mail sent by someone in-house."
According to a joint statement issued by Napster and the Offspring on Monday (6/5), the two parties will now work together to sell Napster products. Profits from the merchandise will be donated to a charity agreed to by the Offspring's Dexter Holland and Napster founder Shawn Fanning.
"The Offspring have been great supporters of Napster," said Fanning via the prepared statement. "We are looking forward to working with them.
"T-shirts ... good," added Holland, echoing a line spoken by a cartoon rendition of Metallica frontman James Hetfield in an animated parody that makes fun of Metallica and the lawsuit the band has filed against Napster. In the animated short, Hetfield is portrayed as a gorilla-like character who growls phrases like "Money... good, Napster... bad."
The Offspring have expressed their support of Napster in interviews and in a statement found on the band's official website.
"The Offspring view MP3 technology and programs such as Napster as being a vital and necessary means to promote music and foster better relationships with our fans," reads the statement.
Napster has been mired in controversy since the inception of its MP3 file-trading software that allows users to trade CD-quality music via the Internet. The company is currently the target of separate copyright-infringement lawsuits filed by Metallica, Dr. Dre and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
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