By Taylor Long
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has advanced its army in the battle over illegal file sharing. Last week, President Cary Sherman announced that the RIAA is cracking down on file-sharing over Internet2, which is an advanced network created by participating colleges and universities, intended for academic research.
The major tactic the RIAA has used to fight file sharing in the past is by suing the creators of the programs and the downloaders, and in regards to Internet2, this tactic has not changed. On April 13, the RIAA filed copyright infringement lawsuits against 405 students at 18 different Internet2-using colleges across the nation. In an effort to draw attention to the cause and promote the organization, Sherman participated in an online press conference with only college students.
The main point of these lawsuits, Sherman said, is to “let everyone know that illegal file trading on Internet2 is not safe from detection.” In addition to the lawsuits they filed, the RIAA claims to have evidence of infringement on over 140 Internet2 using schools, but will not release the names of the schools publicly. Instead of filing more lawsuits, letters are being sent to the president of each school. “This is intended to be a private communication to the president of the university to alert him/her to the fact that there is an i2hub infringement problem on their campus,” Sherman said.
Though it may seem otherwise, Sherman insists that the lawsuits are not about money. “This is not a profit making venture,” he said, “it’s money we need to spend to educate users that uploading and downloading on p2p networks is illegal and carries risk.” He also insists that it’s not about the RIAA, it’s about the artists and the people that help them.
“People think artists are uniformly rich, but that’s just not the case. For every Britney, there are thousands of unknown artists working their way up, CD plant workers, marketing people, delivery people, accountants, graphic designers, studio engineers, background musicians, vocalists-it goes on and on,” he said.
Though their campaign against file sharing hasn’t extended much beyond filing lawsuits and advertisements, Sherman says he knows that it’s going to take several forms of action to lessen the blow. “There isn’t going to be a silver bullet that’s going to solve this problem. It requires a multi-pronged approach,” he said, “The primary response to illegal file-sharing is to offer legitimate alternatives that consumers prefer. And that’s what the industry has been focused on most. There are dozens of legal services now offering everything from a la carte downloads to subscriptions; kiosks in retail stores (like Starbucks); the new DualDisc format for physical products (CD on one side, DVD on the other); extra songs on CDs that can be downloaded from the Internet; and on and on.”
Many students were curious about the cost of being the target of a copyright infringement lawsuit. Sherman says direct copyright infringement carries a minimum penalty of $750 per work infringed, but he also says they lighten the penalty if the violator isn’t considered a major downloader, or doesn’t put up a fight. “We routinely settle these cases at far less-on average in the $3500-4500 range-for those who work with us to resolve these cases quickly. If we have to litigate the case, or if the infringement is especially egregious, the settlement amount could be higher,” he said.
Because college campuses can be such hotbeds for downloading, Sherman says he is a huge proponent of subscription downloading for students. “So far, 44 schools have done deals with legitimate online music services so they can offer their students a legal way to get music,” he said.
As for the future of downloading, Sherman thinks that these subscription services will play the most important role. “I think digital distribution of music is just beginning, and it’s going to get a whole lot larger than it is right now,” he said, “I think users are going to really gravitate toward subscription services as they learn more about them. For a single monthly fee, they get the opportunity to listen to any song they want whenever they want. More and more people are beginning to subscribe to such services. It’s a little like cable TV-which started slowly, but then became very big once people understood what it offered.”
The RIAA and its 350-plus member companies are responsible for creating, manufacturing, or distributing 90 percent of all legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States.
Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA, recently held an online press conference with college reporters. (Image courtesy www.mccullagh.org)
