of their own copyrighted products and preventing them from being illegally traded. This ruling resulted in several additional legal claims against MP3.com, with the company ultimately owing more than $150 million to legacy record companies. The judgments pushed MP3.com into severe financial difficulties which were averted by a merger with Vivendi Universal. References 2000 in United States case law United States copyright case law United States file sharing case law United States District Court for the Southern District of New York cases Fair use case law