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Song-Swappers

IFPI Sues 2,100 Internet Song-Swappers in Europe

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 15, 2005 - 6:37am.
London - The International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced that it has launched its largest wave of legal action against people suspected of illegally sharing music files on the Internet. The IFPI said its latest move would target more than 2,100 uploaders using peer-to-peer networks in 16 countries including France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. The group said that in previous actions, defendants have paid an average of $3,000 each to settle copyright infringement claims. Separately, the IFPI announced that legal U.K. single track music downloads reached more than 16.9 million for the first three quarters of 2005, compared with 2.7 million during 2004, while illegal downloads have dropped by 10% between 2003 (1.1 billion) and 2005 (900 million).
tags: Internet | Europe | IFPI | Song-Swappers |

RIAA Sues Another 754 Song-Swappers for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 1, 2005 - 6:50am.
Los Angeles -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on Wednesday that it has sued another 754 individuals for copyright infringement of songs on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. The "John Doe" lawsuits, filed in federal courts in California, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., will seek to obtain the identities of individuals from their Internet service providers. The industry's last wave of 765 file-swapper lawsuits was filed in late July; defendants have usually settled with the record labels for between $3,000 and $5,000 each. The RIAA has now sued over 14,000 individuals since launching its legal anti-piracy campaign in Sept. 2003.
tags: Law | RIAA | Sues | Copyright Infringement | Song-Swappers |

RIAA Sues Another 754 Song-Swappers for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 31, 2005 - 4:43am.
Los Angeles -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on Wednesday that it has sued another 754 individuals for copyright infringement of songs on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. The "John Doe" lawsuits, filed in federal courts in California, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C., will seek to obtain the identities of individuals from their Internet service providers. The industry's last wave of 765 file-swapper lawsuits was filed in late July; defendants have usually settled with the record labels for between $3,000 and $5,000 each. The RIAA has now sued over 14,000 individuals since launching its legal anti-piracy campaign in Sept. 2003.
tags: Law | RIAA | Copyright Infringement | Song-Swappers |

RIAA Sues Another 784 Suspected Internet Song-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 30, 2005 - 7:09am.
Washington -- Just days after a Supreme Court victory over the makers of file-sharing software, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that it has filed a new round of lawsuits against 784 individual suspected Internet song-swappers. The "John Doe" lawsuits were filed against users of file-sharing networks including Grokster, LimeWire and Kazaa. "On Monday, the Supreme Court provided a real shot in the arm to legitimate online music services and unanimously injected moral clarity into this debate," said RIAA chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol. "If there was any doubt left, there should now be none -- individuals who download music without permission are breaking the law. Our efforts to defend the rights of record labels, musicians, songwriters and others in the music community from theft will certainly continue and likely be strengthened in the weeks and months ahead." The RIAA has now filed in the neighborhood of 8,000 lawsuits against suspected file-swappers, the vast majority of whom end up settling the litigation and paying the RIAA an average of $3,000 each.
tags: Internet | RIAA | Song-Swappers |

RIAA Sues More Internet2 Campus Song-Swappers for Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 31, 2005 - 5:29am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has expanded its copyright infringement litigation against collegiate file-swappers using the ultra-fast Internet2 network, last week filing a second wave of lawsuits against 91 people at 33 universities. The new lawsuits follow the RIAA's initial round of lawsuits against Internet2 users filed last month. "As long as students continue to corrupt this specialized academic network for the flagrant theft of music, we will continue to make it clear that there are consequences for these unlawful actions," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. In addition, the RIAA said it sued another 649 "John Doe" individuals for copyright infringement on public Internet file-sharing networks like Kazaa, LimeWire and Grokster.
tags: RIAA | Campus | Infringement | Song-Swappers | Internet2 |

RIAA Sues Another 717 Alleged Song-Swappers for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 31, 2005 - 5:04am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced last week that it has sued another 717 alleged music file-swappers for copyright infringement. The "John Doe" lawsuits, filed to obtain the identities of peer-to-peer users from their Internet service providers, include 68 directed at individuals on 23 college campuses. "In a world that is becoming more and more connected through the wonders of digital technology, students need to understand that just because someone else’s property or creations can be obtained easily and freely without anyone seemingly knowing, there are consequences because it is stealing," said RIAA general counsel Steven Marks. The latest batch of lawsuits follows on several hundred filed by the RIAA in December, and brings the total number of individuals sued by the RIAA for copyright infringement on file-sharing services to nearly 8,500.
tags: RIAA | Sues | Copyright Infringement | Song-Swappers |

RIAA Sues Another 761 Suspected Internet Song-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2004 - 4:58am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Thursday filed another 761 copyright infringement lawsuits against alleged Internet music file-swappers, bringing the total number of individuals sued by the RIAA to just under 7,000. The lawsuits were filed against "John Doe" defendants, whose identities the RIAA will seek from their Internet service providers. In the past, the RIAA has offered to settle suits out of court for several thousand dollars each before filing actual infringement actions. "The lawsuits are an essential educational tool," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. "They remind music fans about the law and provide incentives to university administrators to offer legal alternatives." The suits come in the same week that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed its first wave of lawsuits against suspected Internet movie file-swappers.
tags: Internet | RIAA | Song-Swappers |

RIAA Sues Another 750 Alleged Song-Swappers for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 29, 2004 - 4:27am.
Washington -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced on Friday that it has sued another 750 alleged music file-swappers for copyright infringement, including 25 users from 13 different universities. In addition to the 750 "John Doe" lawsuits filed to obtain file-swappers' identities from their Internet service providers, the RIAA said it filed 213 separate lawsuits against defendants in 34 states and the District of Columbia identified through previous "John Doe" suits who declined or ignored an RIAA settlement offer. The RIAA has now sued a total of over 6,100 individual file-swappers for copyright infringement. The students targeted by the RIAA on Friday include some studying at Iowa State University, Ohio State University, Grinnell College and Indiana State University. "In order for legitimate services to continue their growth, we cannot ignore those who take and distribute music illegally," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. "There must be consequences to breaking the law or illegal downloading will cripple the music community's ability to support itself now or invest in the future." The RIAA also announced this week that CD shipments increased 10.2% in the first half of 2004.
tags: Law | RIAA | Sues | Copyright Infringement | Song-Swappers |

RIAA Sues Another 482 Song-Swappers for Copyright Infringement

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 22, 2004 - 8:12am.
Los Angeles -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Tuesday filed another 482 copyright infringement lawsuits against alleged music file-swappers, bringing the total number of individuals sued since the group began its legal campaign a year ago to 3,429. The new lawsuits were filed against "John Doe" subscribers to Internet service providers, and included 206 in Washington, D.C., 213 in St. Louis, 55 in Denver and six in New Jersey. The "John Doe" suits against individual defendants are a step the RIAA must now take in order to compel ISPs to identify their accused customers. Most defendants have settled their cases with the RIAA out of court, agreeing to pay an average of $3,000 to have charges dropped. "Illegal downloading continues to cause enormous harm to the entire music community," said RIAA general counsel Steven Marks. "We must stay on the path of education, enforcement, and offering great legal services."
tags: Law | RIAA | Sues | Copyright Infringement | Song-Swappers |

Canada Rules Music File-Sharing Legal, Denies Motions to ID Song-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 1, 2004 - 9:15am.
Toronto -- In a ruling that could have tremendous effects on music downloading in the country, a Canadian federal court has denied motions from the Canadian record industry to identify alleged music file-swappers from their Internet service providers, adding that downloading songs for personal use and offering them to others online is legal in Canada. In February, the Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA) filed motions to require five Canadian Internet service providers to disclose the identities of 29 subscribers it believed were offering music on file-sharing services. The CRIA then intended to file copyright infringement lawsuits against the alleged pirates, similar to the tactics taken in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America -- which has sued nearly 2,000 Americans for copyright infringement. "We are reviewing the decision received today from the trial court and expect to appeal it," said CRIA general counsel Richard Pfohl. "In our view, the copyright law in Canada does not allow people to put hundreds or thousands of music files on the Internet for copying, transmission and distribution to millions of strangers." Earlier this week, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it filed suits seeking the identities of alleged file-swappers in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Canada; Wednesday's decision will likely have an affect on the IFPI litigation as well.
tags: Music | File-Sharing | legal | Song-Swappers | Canada Rules |

Canadian Labels Ask Court to Make ISPs Reveal Song-Swappers' Identities

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 17, 2004 - 8:58am.
Toronto -- The Canadian record industry has made good on its promise to target individual file-swappers with copyright infringement claims, asking a federal court to compel a number of Internet service providers to turn over the identities of 29 subscribers it believes are large-scale music pirates. The Canadian Record Industry Association (CRIA), which represents labels including the Canadian units of EMI and Universal, asked the court to compel Internet service providers Bell/Sympatico, Telus, Videotron, Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications to reveal specific subscribers' identities. "We see this as progress in due legal process that will in the end, allow us to file suits against flagrant copyright infringers," said CRIA general counsel Richard Pfohl. At least one Canadian ISP said it will challenge the CRIA's actions. "We intend to ask the court to preserve the privacy of our customers ... (and) we believe this application amounts to a civil search warrant," Shaw Communications CEO Jim Shaw told Reuters.
tags: Law | Canadian | Song-Swappers | Identities |

Record Industry Sends Individual Warnings to Online Song-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 29, 2003 - 9:47am.
Los Angeles -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a trade group representing major record labels that has served as the industry's voice against online music piracy, has stepped up its campaign against file-sharing services by sending individual instant messages to users of Kazaa and Grokster, warning them of the penalties of criminal copyright infringement. "When you offer music on these systems, you are not anonymous and you can easily be identified," reads part of the message sent to around 200,000 file-sharing service users on Tuesday. The RIAA told Reuters that at least one million users will receive the message by the end of the week. "We're going to be sending messages to the very people who are offering music, in real time, as they do it," RIAA president Cary Sherman told CNET News.com. "The hope is that this way we'll be reaching the people who need to know that they are not anonymous, that there are risks of legal consequences if they continue, and also that there are risks to privacy and security."
tags: Internet | Records | Song-Swappers | Warnings |

Verizon, Given 14 Days to ID Song-Swappers, Files Another Legal Appeal

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 25, 2003 - 10:01am.
Washington -- A federal judge on Friday gave Internet access provider Verizon two weeks to turn over to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) the identity of two of its subscribers who allegedly were trading songs on file-sharing systems using the company's network. U.S. District Judge John Bates denied two Verizon motions to rule the RIAA's subpoenas invalid; a new Verizon motion filed on Friday will seek an immediate U.S. Appeals Court stay of Judge Bates' ruling. "Today's ruling goes far beyond the interests of large copyright monopolists -- such as RIAA -- in enforcing its copyrights," said Verizon senior vice president and deputy general counsel John Thorne. "This decision exposes anyone who uses the Internet to potential predators, scam artists and crooks, including identity thieves and stalkers." The RIAA applauded Friday's ruling. "Today's decision makes clear that these individuals cannot rely on their (Internet service providers) to shield them from accountability," said RIAA president Cary Sherman. "If users of pirate peer-to-peer sites don't want to be identified, they should not break the law by illegally distributing music."
tags: Verizon | Song-Swappers | Files | ID | Legal Appeal |