Venture firm Hummer Winblad denied allegations it had deleted emails regarding its investment in Napster.

Last week, attorneys for music labels EMI and Universal Music Group claimed Ann Winblad, co-founder and partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, ordered her staff to destroy Napster-related emails in order to hinder the long-running Napster copyright infringement litigation (see Napster VCs on Hook for Email).

Attorneys for San Francisco-based Hummer Winblad responded in a court filing Friday that the firm had made “a good faith effort to preserve and produce relevant documents, including emails.”

Hummer Winblad declined to comment for this story, and attorneys for the venture firm as well as the music labels did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case is proceeding in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.

Winblad’s Email

EMI and Universal had quoted a June 2000 email from Ms. Winblad saying, “As we have all been required to surrender Napster e-mails, this should reinforce compliance with our long-standing policies. (1) We do not retain e-mails, it is your responsibility to delete your handled e-mails immediately.”

As we have all been required to surrender Napster e-mails, this should reinforce compliance with our long-standing policies. (1) We do not retain e-mails, it is your responsibility to delete your handled e-mails immediately.”

Following this missive, the firm’s submitted emails regarding Napster dropped dramatically.

Hummer Winblad contended Friday the email in question was excerpted improperly. Though Ms. Winblad did write the quoted portion, her comments were preceded by a forwarded email from Hummer Winblad partner Hank Barry.

Mr. Barry’s portion of the email informed Hummer Winblad employees to copy Napster’s lawyers on Napster-related emails and minimize the number of emails they sent about Napster.

Email Policy Unknown

Mr. Barry, along with Hummer Winblad partner and co-founder John Hummer, led the firm’s Napster investment, but Ms. Winblad was not directly involved. Preceding the company’s sale to Bertelsmann, Mr. Barry served as chief executive of Napster, and the records of his Napster email account have been saved.

His order to minimize Hummer Winblad emails about Napster was apparently in keeping with the firm’s email policies regarding its portfolio companies. This would ostensibly account for the drop in emails following the Hummer Winblad investment.

Attorneys for Hummer Winblad attempted to resolve conflicts in various partners’ testimony and emails by claiming an email policy that would require partners to retain documents was not communicated to senior members of the firm.

Another partner, Todd Forrest, testified that the firm’s policy as of 2000 was to retain emails, but Hummer Winblad claims Mr. Barry and Mr. Hummer did not know of the policy until 2003.

No Anticipation?

Hummer Winblad also attempted to show that the firm did not expect to be implicated in Napster lawsuits, though the company was already in court when Hummer Winblad stepped in.

“Had we anticipated litigation, we never would have invested in Napster,” Mr. Hummer wrote in a declaration to the court.

The filing also pointed out that the music labels had failed to submit some relevant emails, including one in which Mr. Barry apparently proposed an “industry supported model” for licensing EMI content to Napster.

Contact the writer:LGannes@RedHerring.com