09/09/2003 --recording Industry Announces Lawsuits

Recording Industry Announces Lawsuits Against Music Sharers

September 9, 2003 -- September 9, 2003 -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced yesterday that its member companies have filed the first wave of civil lawsuits against major offenders who have been illegally distributing substantial amounts (averaging more than 1,000 copyrighted music files each) of copyrighted music on peer-to-peer networks. The RIAA said these lawsuits have come only after a multi-year effort to educate the public about the illegality of unauthorized downloading and noted that major music companies have made vast catalogs of music available to dozens of new high-quality, low-cost, legitimate online services.
At the same time, the RIAA announced that the industry is prepared to grant amnesty to peer-to-peer network users who voluntarily identify themselves and pledge to stop illegally sharing music on the Internet. The RIAA will guarantee not to sue file sharers who have not yet been identified in any RIAA investigations and who provide a signed and notarized affidavit in which they promise to respect recording-company copyrights.

"For those who want to wipe the slate clean and to avoid a potential lawsuit, this is the way to go," said Mitch Bainwol, RIAA chairman and CEO. "We want to send a strong message that the illegal distribution of copyrighted works has consequences, but if individuals are willing to step forward on their own, we want to go the extra step and extend them this option."

"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. "But when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action. We simply cannot allow online piracy to continue destroying the livelihoods of artists, musicians, songwriters, retailers, and everyone in the music industry."

In the first round of lawsuits, RIAA member companies filed copyright infringement claims against 261 individual file sharers. The RIAA announced on June 25 that it would be gathering evidence in order to bring lawsuits in September against computer users who illegally distribute copyrighted music through such peer-to-peer file distribution networks as Kazaa and Grokster. Individuals caught distributing copyrighted files on Kazaa, Grokster, Imesh, Gnutella, and Blubster were targeted in this initial round.