The RIAA Goes After Music Sharers

As the RIAA issues subpoenas to find people who share music, individuals find themselves asking whether they are doing something wrong - and what they may be liable for. 

The information changes frequently.  Let's try to keep you in-touch with the issue.  Get your scorecards out.

"Will I get sued if I download mp3s from the Internet?"

• That depends on who you are. I discuss it in my Pittsburgh Post Gazette column on Thursday, July 10, 2003.

• Find out whether a subpoena has been filed against you by the RIAA.  (This interactive database is constantly being updated as more subpoenas are issued.)

• What ISPs and Universities are doing when they receive subpoenas to turn over students, faculty, staff and users.

"How do I keep from getting sued?"

• The EFF has put together a great list of suggestions to keep you from getting sued.  It includes instructions for turning off the infringing feature on most of the widely used P2P software - including KaZaA, Grokster, and Gnutella.

• There are other ways to get in trouble.  Students might go astray of their university guidelines for network usage or copyright use.  Most ISPs have similar terms and conditions of use.  Not adhering to them can get you booted from their networks.  So be aware of the guidelines to which you have to adhere.  Here are the student guidelines for Carnegie Mellon University.

More:

• Student privacy is protected by FERPA - the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act.  Universities that receive subpoenas from the RIAA must comply with FERPA before giving out the information on the student.

• The Recording Industry Assn of America press release announcing its initiative against file sharers

• The Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Let The Music Play" Campaign

• USA Today: Facts about File Sharing

• Music United explains the law

What you should know about music and copyrights:

• Connecting With Kids talks about downloading copyrighted music.
• Respect Copyrights.org

Better Ways to Share

You don't have to be illegal to share your music.  Here's a service that will help you get YOUR music out to the legal file sharing services, like Apple's iTune, MusicMatch and BuyMusic.com.  But not stolen music.

• CD Baby

Better Ways to Get Your Music Legally - and sometimes cheaply!

• MusicMatch
• iTunes
• BuyMusic