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BPI and IFPI Launch International Lawsuits Against Music File-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 13, 2005 - 10:07am.
London -- The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a U.K.-based music industry trade organization, announced that it plans to go to court to seek the disclosure of 33 people suspected of uploading hundreds of music tracks to peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. The BPI has now taken legal action against 90 people suspected of pirating music. Although 31 cases are still pending, 23 people have so far been found guilty of illegal file-sharing and ordered to pay about $3,700 each. "We have warned people time and again that unauthorized file-sharing is against the law," said BPI General Counsel Geoff Taylor. "We will maintain our campaign until the message gets across." Meanwhile, the IFPI -- the BPI's international homologue -- also announced that it has filed 963 suits against alleged music pirates in 11 countries, including Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Japan -- which became the first Asian nation to take action against suspected music file-swappers.
tags: Law | IFPI | BPI | Launch | Music File-Swappers | International Lawsuits |