The California Central District Court has denied Ticketmaster's request for a preliminary injunction to stop Tickets.com from linking to the Ticketmaster.com Web site without permission.

Despite turning down the request for injunction, Judge Hupp of the California Central District Court acknowledged that Ticketmaster and its TMCS unit had serious claims against Tickets.com for, among other things, trespass and copyright infringement. The judge said that these claims should be resolved at a later stage in the proceeding.

Hupp had earlier rejected Tickets.com's request to dismiss six of Ticketmaster's claims, including their federal copyright and Lanham Act claims. In March, the court dismissed four of the plaintiffs' state law claims, but allowed Ticketmaster and TMCS to re-plead those claims.

In April 2000, Ticketmaster filed an amended complaint, and re-pled two state law claims for trespass and breach of contract.

Inquired one music industry observer, "Does this mean they're shutting down Napster?"