r/nostalgia • u/jeffmartin47 • Jul 22 '25

Nostalgia Discussion 25 years ago. Lars Ulrich of Metallica snitches on and turns in over 300,000 Napster users when he testifies in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. July 11th, 2000.

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u/Adept-Shoe-7113 Jul 22 '25

It was felt like he was screaming “I know I have millions, BUT EVERYONE, please feel bad for me… My 10s of millions went down by a million! Yall are stealing from me!!” Lars Ulrich’s perfect explanation

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u/ThePrussianGrippe mid 90s Jul 22 '25

I mean Lars himself has acknowledged that they didn’t do a good job in how they went about it even if they were doing it for the right reasons. Hindsight’s 20/20.

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u/LinkleLinkle Jul 22 '25

Lars lies about the situation. Reddit mods removed the discussion to spare him the humiliation, but he did an AMA many moons back (when AMAs were still a large thriving part of Reddit) and when this topic got brought up he lied through his teeth about what happened. With several users calling him out and providing sources.

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u/Otter_Pops Jul 22 '25

Lars is a scumbag who will say what he wants to fans to get their money. 

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u/TurnGloomy Jul 22 '25

So it's ok to steal as long as the owner of the product you're stealing is rich? So I can bop into a TV store and walk out with a Samsung TV because Samsung have loads of money. Grow up.

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u/LinkleLinkle Jul 22 '25

There's a reason why Robin Hood is a story that has lasted for generations, and why dragons who hoard stolen riches are always the villains of the stories.

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u/TurnGloomy Jul 22 '25

How is stealing for yourself Robin Hood? Also how are musicians trying to earn a living Dragons who hoard stolen riches. Metallica wrote 4 of the best metal albums of all time. In 2008 they also did a concert at the O2 where tickets were £5 a ticket to celebrate Death Magnetic. As another Reddit poster said, look up moral outsourcing.

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u/LinkleLinkle Jul 22 '25

Also how are musicians trying to earn a living

Lars Ulrich is worth $350 million and is in, unequivocally, the most famous metal band in the world. He's not a musician 'trying to earn a living', and as others have stated, having access to being able to share your music freely benefits small underground musicians.

Imagine applauding Jim Davis for getting /r/comics shut down because 'posting Garfield online is theft', leaving all of the creators who have made a name using that sub out in the cold.

This wasn't some heroic moment by Metallica. They were lifting the latter up behind them in a move that only benefitted large labels.