A decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals on July 18, overturned a federal judge’s order made last week. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued the order July 11 in a court hearing that required Napster to remain offline until it fully complied with an injunction to remove all copyrighted music.

Napster, sued by the recording industry in 1999 for copyright infringement, said it could now block more than 99 percent of all infringing song files. But Patel told Napster it needed to block 100 percent of unauthorized, copyrighted songs or stay offline indefinitely.

Napster immediately sought relief from the appeals court, which overturned Patel’s decision in a two-sentence order.

Napster’s free song-sharing service has been down since July 2 due to a retooling of their song-screening software. A paid subscription is to launch later this summer.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) noted that the court only temporarily lifted Patel’s order and will hear arguments on the case later this year.

RIAA attorney Cary Sherman said that the decision still requires Napster to remove copyrighted works that both Patel and the appeals court have found were violating copyright laws.