In the News

It's not every day that record companies are accused of behaving like goblins in a book by JK Rowling.

But that is just one of the more colourful accusations being bandied around in a US legal battle that could have implications for many people's private CD and LP collections.

It all began in May 2007 when Universal Music Group (UMG), the largest of the Big Four companies that dominate the music industry worldwide, sued a Los Angeles-based trader on the eBay online auction site.

The target of the legal action, Troy Augusto, runs a business called Roast Beast Music Collectables.

He makes his living by snapping up rare albums in second-hand record shops and selling them on eBay.

The fourth time was the charm apparently. After having her first three complaints rejected by the judge presiding over the case, former RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen's fourth complaint in her malicious prosecution lawsuit has been green-lighted by the judge. The defendants have just filed their replies to the fourth amended complaint, and, as expected, they paint quite a different picture than does Andersen.

The RIAA and record companies associated with the original Atlantic v. Andersen case filed a 19-page response, while MediaSentry's parent SafeNet filed a nine-page reply. In it, the defendants categorically deny all of Andersen's accusations and ask for the judge to dismiss the lawsuit and award them costs and attorneys' fees. The RIAA also says that Andersen's attempts to turn the case into a class-action are "inappropriate," arguing that the "factual issues" raised are "wholly unique" to the lawsuit.

To catch college students trading copyrighted songs online, the Recording Industry Association of America uses the same file-sharing software that online pirates love, an RIAA representative told The Chronicle at the organization's offices during a private demonstration of how it catches alleged music pirates. He also said the group does not single out specific colleges in its investigations.

The demonstration was given by an RIAA employee who would speak only on condition of anonymity because of concern that he would receive hate e-mail.

The official explained that one way the RIAA identifies pirates is by using LimeWire, a popular peer-to-peer file-sharing program that is free online and used by many college students (there is also a more-robust version of the program sold for a small fee).

Together with the charity Childnet, IFPI recently launched a campaign to educate kids, teachers and parents about the dangers of filesharing. Ironically, the legal alternatives they suggest direct the kids to LimeWire, Kazaa and sites that sell hardcore adult movies.

The campaign’s leaflet (pdf) is distributed through schools and colleges, libraries, record stores, teaching portals and websites in 21 countries. It advises kids and parents about the dangers of filesharing, and advises them to use the legal music online stores, which are listed on pro-music.org, with the aim of keeping kids safe online.

These days, the Recording Industry Association of America is arguably best known for its legal campaign against P2P users—filing over 25,000 copyright infringement lawsuits in a few short years will do that, I guess. But as a music industry trade group, the group has several other responsibilities. One of those is lobbying Congress for tougher copyright laws, an endeavor that the group spent nearly $2.1 million on in 2007.

Each year, groups that lobby Congress are required to report on how much they spent convincing lawmakers to pass legislation. During 2007, the RIAA spent $2.08 million lobbing Congress on three pieces of legislation near and dear to its heart: The PRO-IP Act, the Intellectual Property Enforcement Act, college funding bill The College Opportunity and Affordability Act, and legislation relating to royalties paid by terrestrial and Internet broadcasters.

The German parliament has ratified a new copyright extension aimed at fighting file sharing a few days ago. The law was supposed to make it easier for the entertainment industry to get the identities of file sharers, but it's unclear yet what the real effect on the country's millions of P2P users will be.

Rights holders will now be able to get a simple court order to force ISPs to give up their customers names, similar to what record companies are already doing in the US. Simple acts of infringement will however only result in a 100 Euro fine.

Germany's tough privacy laws and a recent court decision against data retention will also make it hard to get the names of infringers in time, since most ISPs are forced to erase such data within seven days. Finally, rights holders will have to front the costs of these lawsuits, making them much more expensive than previous enforcement actions.

The senior Google executive poached by EMI's new owners to overhaul its global digital strategy said yesterday that file sharing, for so long deemed the scourge of the music business, was "not necessarily bad".

Glen Merrill was Google's chief information officer and one of the architects of the internet firm's successful flotation in 2004. He has been appointed at EMI to a new role overseeing all of the company's digital strategy, innovation, business development, supply chain and global technology activities.

Since the rise of Napster, the music industry has blamed file sharing and peer-to-peer networks for the continuing slump in CD sales. With digital sales failing to bridge the gap, it is desperately searching for a new business model.

A federal judge in New York has dealt the Recording Industry Association of America a setback in its thousands of lawsuits over piracy on peer-to-peer networks.

In a widely anticipated decision, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas ruled Monday to reject the RIAA's claim that a Kazaa user who merely "made available" copyrighted music necessarily violated the law. Rather, he said, the RIAA would have to demonstrate that unlawful copying actually took place.

"Plaintiffs' allegations--insofar as plaintiffs wish to hold defendant liable for acts of infringement other than actual downloading and/or distribution--fail to state a claim," Karas wrote.

Edgar Bronfman Jr.'s Warner Music Group has tapped industry veteran Jim Griffin to spearhead a controversial plan to bundle a monthly fee into consumers' Internet service bills for unlimited access to music.

The plan—the boldest move yet to keep the wounded entertainment industry giants afloat—is simple: Consumers will pay a monthly fee, bundled into an internet service bill in exchange for unfettered access to a database of all known music.

Bronfman's decision to hire Griffin, a respected industry critic, demonstrates the desperation of the recording industry. It has shrunk to a $10 billion business from $15 billion in almost a decade. Compact disc sales are plummeting as online music downloads skyrocket.

Ambassador John Bruton, Head of the European Commission Delegation to the United States, issued the following statement on March 19, 2008:

“At a time when there is increasingly impressive cooperation between the EU and the U.S. in combating intellectual property infringements, it is high time for America to resolve our outstanding IPR disagreements.”