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U.K. Record Industry Sues Five Internet Song-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 3, 2005 - 6:30am.
London -- The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) announced that it has filed the first copyright infringement lawsuits against Internet song-swappers in the U.K. The suits were filed in the U.K. High Court, against five individuals who collectively were offering 8,906 songs for download. The BPI said the five have declined since April to settle charges brought against them. The cases were the subject of a March 11 court order, which requires U.K. Internet service providers to provide the identities of suspected file-swappers to copyright holders, as they are required to in the U.S. "So far 60 U.K. Internet users have settled legal claims against them for illegal file-sharing, paying up to $11,500 in compensation," said BPI general counsel Geoff Taylor. "We have tried to agree fair settlements, but if people refuse to deal with the evidence against them, then the law must take its course… We will be seeking an injunction and full damages for the losses they have caused, in addition to the considerable legal costs we are incurring as a result of their illegal activity."
tags: Music | U.K | Record Industry | Internet Song-Swappers |

U.K. Record Industry Settles 23 Suits Against File-Swappers, Files 31 More

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 7, 2005 - 6:47am.
London -- The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a U.K. record label trade group, announced that it has settled 23 lawsuits it filed against Internet music file-swappers in October 2004, with defendants paying penalties of up to $8,600 each. "We have no desire to drag people through the courts. So we have attempted to reach fair settlements where we can," said BPI general counsel Geoff Taylor. The BPI also said it sued 31 additional individuals for alleged copyright infringement on eight peer-to-peer networks, including eDonkey, Soulseek, Limewire, Bearshare and Imesh. "If illegal file-sharers think that they can avoid getting caught by staying away from the most popular networks like KaZaA, they're wrong," Taylor added. The BPI's U.S. counterpart, the Recording Industry Association of America, has now sued over 9,000 individuals suspected of Internet music file-sharing.
tags: U.K. | File-Swappers | Record Industry |

Head of French Record Industry Says File-Swapper Lawsuits Looming

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 31, 2004 - 3:51am.
Paris -- The head of France's record label trade group said that lawsuits against individual music file-swappers would be filed shortly in the country, on the same day that an international record label trade group filed 247 suits against alleged pirates in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada, Reuters reported. "We will do the same thing in France in the coming weeks or months. Whatever happens, lawsuits against Internet users are inevitable," Herve Rony, head of France's SNEP (Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique), told Reuters. In addition to prosecuting file-swappers, France will also go after Internet service providers, utilizing a law that will go into effect shortly that asks them to filter copyrighted content on their networks. "We have a two lines of fire: taking action against individual Internet users does not imply we will not act against service providers to oblige them to filter," Rony added.
tags: Lawsuits | French | File-Swapper | Record Industry |

New Research Disputes Record Industry's File-Sharing Claims

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 30, 2004 - 4:00am.
London -- Researchers from the Harvard Business School and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill published a report this week that contradicts the music industry's claim that Internet file sharing has had a major impact on global CD sales. According to Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Koleman Strumpf, file sharing has had only a limited effect of global sales. "The economic effect is also small," the report said. "Even in the most pessimistic specification, five thousand downloads are needed to displace a single album sale." Little surprise, the Recording Industry Association of America rejected the researchers' findings, saying in a statement: "Countless well-respected groups and analysts -- including Edison Research, Forrester and the University of Texas, among others -- have all determined that illegal file sharing has adversely impacted the sales of CDs." 
tags: File-Sharing | Record Industry | New Research |

Canada's Record Industry Licenses Tracks to Napster, MusicNet, PureTracks

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 10, 2003 - 4:40am.
Toronto -- The Canadian recording industry has announced the signing of licensing agreements with a number of online music services, which will soon result in the launch of services including Napster and MusicNet in Canada. The agreement was signed by the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) and the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). The first to benefit from the agreement will be Canada-based PureTracks, which intends to launch its paid download service on Oct. 14. Canadian versions of both Napster and MusicNet are expected to launch shortly, all offering songs starting at $0.99. "This agreement sets up a solid, practical system to enable these new online services to obtain the rights they need to do business in Canada," said CMRRA president David Basskin. "Music publishers and songwriters are vitally important members of the music industry, and this agreement ensures that their rights will be respected -- and that they'll be paid for the use of their songs."
tags: Napster | MusicNet | Canada | Record Industry | Puretracks |

Music Choice, Record Industry Groups Reach Settlement on Music Royalties

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 31, 2003 - 4:20am.
Horsham, Penn. -- Music Choice, a provider of digital music programming to cable and satellite TV operators, announced on Friday that it has reached a joint settlement with key music industry groups for royalty rates and terms through 2007, averting the need for a federal arbitration proceeding. Parties to the settlement, which will apply to the period between Jan. 1, 2002 and Dec. 31, 2007, included the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), and American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Terms of the settlement will also apply to fellow music subscription services DMX Music and Muzak. The U.S. Copyright Office must now officially ratify the terms of the agreement before SoundExchange, a recording industry entity, may begin collecting royalties and distributing them to artists, record companies and other copyright holders
tags: Music Choice | Musics | Royalties | Record Industry |