update: More than 30,000 Napster users, fingered by Metallica [ tickets ] for alleged copyright violations and subsequently banned from trading files on the Napster website, have claimed that they were misidentified, according to Napster Inc.

In a statement issued on Tuesday (5/17), Napster said that it has begun forwarding to Metallica's attorney the sworn statements from users who claim that they did not illegally trade the band's copyrighted music. Napster claims that if Metallica does not take legal action against the individual users within 10 days of the time the statements are delivered, federal copyright law requires the company to restore their accounts.

"The fact that so many people have come forward and disputed Metallica's accusation that they did not break the law demonstrates that this is not a black and white issue," Napster founder Shawn Fanning said in the statement.

Metallica's attorney Howard King told the Associated Press that the banned users who claim they didn't download Metallica's copyrighted works aren't being truthful.

"There's no question that they're lying," he said. "Each and every one of them was offering Metallica MP3s for uploads."

Napster shut down the accounts of more than 300,000 users last week after Metallica alleged that the users infringed upon the band's copyrights by trading its music. Napster's website directs the banned users to an infringement notification page that explains the notice that Metallica’s sent to Napster. Users who feel they have been wrongly banned can fill out a sworn “counter notification,” and the users will be reinstated within 10 working days unless Metallica pursues legal action against the user, according to the Napster.

In related news, a list of 20,000 people who allegedly traded the copyrighted works of Dr. Dre [ tickets ]--who is also represented by Howard King--will reportedly be delivered to Napster today.