Music industry sues 41 for file sharing

The music industry will file new lawsuits this week against 41 persons it says have illegally shared copyrighted music files over the Internet.

It is the third wave of lawsuits since the industry began an aggressive campaign to reverse a three-year decline in compact disc sales.

“The legal actions taken by the record companies have been effective in educating the American public that illegal file sharing of copyrighted material has significant consequences,” said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, the music industry’s lobbying arm.

The industry began its legal offensive nearly three months ago by filing 261 lawsuits.

Although the number of lawsuits has declined, music industry attorneys are sending more warnings about copyright infringement.

Warning letters were sent yesterday to 90 persons. Nearly 400 people have been notified since October that they could be sued. The recording industry began issuing the warnings after Congress criticized its tactics.

“It sounds like they are ratcheting down [the number of lawsuits] a little bit, and that leads me to conclude the letters are working. I’d rather have the RIAA send letters than sue people,” said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a nonprofit advocacy group in the District that has supported the industry’s effort to go after major file sharers but questioned its tactics.

The new approach has led to a surge in the number of people admitting to file sharing and paying fines.

The recording industry said yesterday 220 persons had settled charges.

“I think it’s a consequence of the success of the notification letters,” an RIAA spokesman said.

None of those sued in September was warned about the legal action and many learned about it from reporters.

The recording industry is targeting people accused of distributing an average of 1,000 copyrighted music files each.

Copyright law allows the industry to collect $750 to $150,000 for each song file distributed. Settlements range from $2,000 to $10,000, with a $3,000 average.

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