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Many courts today apply the reasonable care standard to all types ofbailments, including bailments for the sole benefit of the bailor andbailments for the sole benefit of the bailee.Short-term storage may also create a bailment. For example, whena customer delivers a coat to the checkroom attendant of a hotel or restaurant,a bailment takes place. In contrast, when a customer hangs a coaton a hook in a shop or restaurant, a bailment does not usually exist becausethe shop or restaurant owner has no control over the property.Sometimes a bailment is coupled with the loan of money. Propertyof the borrower, such as a stock certificate, may be turned over to thelender to hold as security for the loan. The property left as security iscalled the pledge, or pawn.Tortious BaileesA tortious bailee refers to a person who wrongfully keeps the lostproperty of another or knowingly possesses stolen property. One whouses a bailed article for a purpose other than agreed upon or who refusesto return property at the termination of the bailment may also beconsidered a tortious bailee. If you found a watch and knew who theowner was and refused to return it, you would be considered a tortiousThe Napster CaseNapster was created by a college student who wanted to share music onlinewith friends. He used software that allows anyone to download copies of musicfrom the Internet. This software made it possible for people to log on to Napsterfor free music downloads. Many of the songs are copyrighted.At trial, the court said that Napster must prevent users from downloadingcopyrighted music. The court found that Napster knew the downloading of freemusic from its system violated copyright law and harmed copyright holders.Nevertheless, the type of song trading system used by Napster is not goingto go away. Eventually the music companies will use similar technology tocreate subscriber-based services that will allow musicians to receive payment.(Source: Associated Press, 2/12/01; Cox News Service, 3/3/01)Connect Check the Web sites of major recording companies. See which, if any,have agreements covering the sharing of downloaded music. Create a contractthat would address important legal issues.372 Unit 3: Understanding Consumer Law