CANBERRA, Sept. 5(Xinhuanet)-- The Australian Federal Court on Monday ruled that the producers of a popular file-sharing software Kazaa have infringed music copyright.

Some of Australia's largest music companies were among 30 organizations taking legal action against Sharman Networks and other companies associated with the Kazaa software, which is used by millions of people around the world to share downloadable musicfiles free of charge.

The music organizations were alleging the software was the biggest system of copyright infringement ever seen, cheating recording artists out of profits.

Australian Federal Court Justice Murray Wilcox has found six ofthe 10 respondents had breached music copyright, and he has ordered that the software be modified, so only licensed music files can be accessed, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported Monday.

The issue of financial damages will be discussed at a later hearing.

Music Industry Piracy Investigations spokesman Michael Speck said it was a"resounding victory for the music industry."

"The court has made orders that will see the system either legitimized or disappear," he was quoted as saying.

"We're very happy with the orders. They were orders we asked for and it's an important step forward for the legitimate online market," he said. Enditem