The RIAA started its wave of lawsuits yesterday targeting a 12 year old girl in its first action.
Brianna LaHara, (12) from New York, agreed to pay $2000 to the RIAA, which is about $2 for each song she allegedly shared.
The suit claimed that LaHara had been using Kazaa's file-sharing service to offer more than 1000 songs for download.
Brianna said "I thought it was OK to download music because my mom paid a service fee for it. Out of all people, why did they pick me?"
The family signed up for the Kazaa music-swapping service three months ago, and paid a $29.99 service charge.
Usually, they listen to songs without recording them. "There's a lot of music there, but we just listen to it and let it go," Brianna's mother said.
"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," said Cary Sherman, the RIAA's president. "But when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action."
Sherman also announced the Clean Slate Program that grants amnesty to users who voluntarily identify themselves, erase downloaded music files and promise not to share music on the Internet. The RIAA said it will not sue users who sign and have notarized a Clean Slate Program affidavit.
Brianna and the others sued yesterday under federal copyright law could face penalties of up to $150,000 per song, but the RIAA has already settled some cases for as little as $3000.
The industry is also pursuing subpoenas at universities around the US seeking to identify music file traders. |
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