RIAA Not After Small-Timers

In response to the backlash against its threats to target individual file-traders, the Recording Industry of America says it won't unreasonably prosecute people who have illegally downloaded only a small number of songs.

"[We are] in no way targeting 'de minimis' users," RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a statement yesterday. "[We are] gathering evidence and preparing lawsuits against individual computer users who are illegally distributing a substantial amount of copyrighted music."

Sherman didn't specify what a "substantial" number would be.

After waging a largely unwinnable war against file-sharing services like Napster, the RIAA announced its intent to focus on individual users this spring. It successfully sued four college students who were running their own smaller, local versions of Napster, eventually settling with each for between twelve and seventeen thousand dollars.

At the time, the RIAA said the number individual suits would escalate, and carry penalties of up to $150,000 per illegally downloaded song.

Sherman's statement responded to congressional allegations that the RIAA's campaign is "excessive." "We assure you that we will approach these suits in a fair and equitable manner," he said, while cautioning that his organization's lenience doesn't mean that "a little illegal activity is acceptable."

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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