Friday, September 05, 2008

File Sharing Lawsuits at a Crossroads, After 5 Years of RIAA Litigation

David Kravets of Wired.com, who provided in-person gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Capitol v. Thomas trial last year, takes stock of the RIAA's 5-year-old litigation campaign, concluding it is 'at a crossroads', and noting that 'billions of copies of copyrighted songs are now changing hands each year on file sharing services. All the while, some of the most fundamental legal questions surrounding the legality of file sharing have gone unanswered. Even the future of the RIAA's only jury trial victory -- against Minnesota mother Jammie Thomas -- is in doubt. Some are wondering if the campaign has shaped up as an utter failure.'

Commentary & discussion:

p2pnet.net





Keywords: digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

admits that the lawsuits are largely a public relations effort, aimed at striking fear into the hearts of would-be downloaders.

If so, then why are nearly all the settlements secret? Are we more likely to be scared of what we don't know, rather than what we do?

Nothing says sham like that admission.

Settlement payments can be made on a website, where the funds are used to sue more defendants. None of the money is paid to artists.

To this man that statement puts a stake cleanly through the heart of any moral authority the RIAA may have ever had, and to outrageous lie the argument that they're doing this for the artists.

{The Common Man Speaking}