Napster could get a last minute stay of execution after a number of surprise bidders said they would be prepared to pay millions for the online music venture.

The internet music swapping service, which had threatened to become a thorn in the music industry's side, was given the last rites earlier this month after a US judge blocked a takeover by Bertelsmann, the German media giant.

The chief executive, Konrad Hilbers, resigned and laid off all but a handful of the company's staff.

But a group of creditors is expected to ask a US bankruptcy judge to delay the winding up process at a hearing today.

"The company is making substantial progress, and in view of that we're hopeful the court will give the parties more time," said Carey Ramos, who represents a group of songwriters and music publishers.

Private Media Group, a Spanish online pornography company, yesterday said it had offered £1.5m for the Napster trademark and napster.com internet address.

"Acquiring Napster is our way of entering the peer-to-peer marketplace for adult content in a closed environment," said Charles Prast, chief executive of Private Media, in an interview with Reuters.

Rick Antonoff, reprsenting Napster's creditors, said "two or three more" offers were expected.

Napster became a hit with millions of music fans around the world by offering a song swapping service over the internet, but it was crippled by a multimillion pound lawsuit from major record companies.

Bertelsmann took a stake in Napster last year and pumped £60m into the business in a bid to construct a legitimate online music service.

But the rescue attempt collapsed last week after record labels and songwriters convinced the bankruptcy judge that a full takeover, valued at £5.8m, was unfair.