In the lawsuit against MP3tunes and Robertson, EMI claimed that the company encouraged users to pirate copyrighted songs.

Last August, US District Judge William Pauley found the service liable for contributory infringement and the judge also found Robertson liable for direct infringement for personally downloading unauthorised music.

Now Robertson - who also founded MP3.com, Linspire, and Dar.fm - has asked a federal court to dispose of the copyright suit but the judge has denied his request.

According to published reports, ...