BPI warns file-sharers of legal action

[damage]

25 Mar 2004 15:39

UK music industry takes aim at Net song swappers
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - The British music industry announced on Thursday it will begin issuing legal warnings to the nation's most prolific online song-swappers, its strongest declaration yet that lawsuits are on the way.

The music industry blames Internet file-sharing services such as Kazaa and WinMX for creating a massive black market of free songs that is contributing to plunging global CD sales.

"The message we want to put out today is that file-sharers are on notice that if they continue with their activities they risk court action," said industry trade group the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

"Serial uploaders are flouting the law and they are damaging British music and the British music industry," BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson in a statement.

The BPI has begun sending instant message warnings directly to British Kazaa users whenever they log onto the service and start sharing files with others.

The group developed "bot" technology that pinpoints the country of origin through a uniquely assigned Internet protocol, or IP, number, the BPI said.

FOLLOWING IN CONTROVERSIAL FOOTSTEPS

The BPI first indicated in January that it intended to follow in the controversial footsteps of the United States with a legal crackdown of its own.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of the world's largest record labels, has sued hundreds of U.S. music fans since September for sharing their song collection over the Internet.

Britain's music market, the third-largest after the U.S. and Japan, is showing signs of a comeback. It reported a 2.1 percent rise in 2003 album sales, a boost mainly due to declining CD prices.

But online piracy levels are on the rise across Europe.

The BPI said on Thursday there were eight million music downloaders in Britain, 92 percent of whom are using file-sharing services to get free music. Its research said downloaders' spending on albums was down 32 percent and down 59 percent for singles.

The U.S. crackdown has had mixed results in minimising online piracy. Industry figures showed use of file-sharing services tailed off shortly after the RIAA started its lawsuits but have recently perked up again.

Mindful of the bad press lawsuits drew in the United States, European music industry officials have taken a more cautious line. They have embarked on consumer education campaigns and have worked to develop industry-backed music download services.

But talk of a tougher legal clampdown among European music executives is gathering pace.

Stung by its first year of declining sales, France said it is considering legal action too. Herve Rony, general manager of French industry group SNEP, told Reuters in January that lawsuits against the most prolific song traders were inevitable.

The BPI did not give a time frame for when it would consider lawsuits, saying instead it hoped the warnings would act as an effective deterrent.

The trade group has in the past singled out so-called "uploaders", or those who choose to put their music collection online for others to copy, as the biggest copyright infringers.

 

[allroad]

would they not be better trying to stop terrorisim B**tar*s need to get that off my chest sorry for any offence but im feed up with the like of robbie williams earning £3500 a minute and people getting blown up and all these feckers can do is chase people for downing music

 

[RAB - P]

[As taken from BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat]

UK record industry warns illegal filesharers – stop or risk court action : 25:3:2004

The British record industry has put illegal filesharers of music on notice that if they continue with their activities they risk court action.

UK record companies’ trade association the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) this morning unveiled research indicating that 8.0m people in the UK claim to be downloading music – 92% of them (7.4m people) using illegal sites.

Downloaders spending less on music

For the first time research has quantified the effect of illegal file-sharing on the record industry. A comparison of the buying behaviour indicates that downloaders spending on albums was down 32%, and spending on singles was down 59% over the previous year.

“There is no clearer evidence of the damage that illegal downloading is doing to British music and the British music industry,” says BPI Chairman Peter Jamieson.

“Illegal filesharing is causing real financial damage to artists, to songwriters, to record companies, publishers, retailers and everyone involved in the business.”

File-sharing is illegal

The BPI points out that illegal file-sharing is outlawed under the The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Specifically it runs counter to:

Section 16, which reserves to the owner exclusive rights to copy and to communicate their works to the public;
Section 20, which says communication to the public includes ‘the making available to the public of the work by electronic transmission in such a way that members of the public may access it from a place and at a time individually chosen by them”.

Instant messages warn of action

The BPI has unveiled a new ‘instant messaging’ campaign over the internet warning uploaders that they face court action if they do not disable file-sharing software on their computers.

“Research reveals that the bulk of the problem of illegal downloading is facilitated by a small hardcore of people who are offering hundreds and often thousands of music files over the internet,” says Jamieson. “These ‘serial uploaders’ are flouting the law and they are damaging British music and the British music industry.”

No excuses

The BPI points out that the UK is at the forefront of the development of new legal download services. “There is no excuse whatsoever for people taking music without permission,” says Jamieson. “There are literally hundreds of thousands of tracks available on legal internet music services in the UK, and the number of tracks available and the number of services providing them grows weekly.”