Grandfather sued for pop music downloads

A 71-year-old grandfather is among more than 250 Americans being sued by the music industry for downloading copyright music from the internet.

A 71-year-old grandfather is among more than 250 Americans being sued by the music industry for downloading copyright music from the internet.

The music industry’s largest trade group filed 261 copyright lawsuits across the US against internet users who trade songs online, an aggressive campaign to discourage piracy through fears of expensive civil penalties or settlements.

The Recording Industry Association of America warned it ultimately may file thousands of cases.

Its first round was aimed at what it described as “major offenders” illegally distributing on average more than 1,000 copyrighted music files each.

One of the defendants, 71-year-old Durwood Pickle, said his teenage grandchildren used his computer during visits to his home.

“I didn’t do it, and I don’t feel like I’m responsible. It’s been stopped now, I guarantee you that,” said Pickle, of Texas, who said his son had explained the situation in an e-mail to the recording industry association.

“I’m not a computer-type person,” Pickle said. “They come in and get on the computer. How do I get out of this? “

Yale University professor Timothy Davis, who also was among those named in the lawsuits, said he will stop sharing music files immediately. He said he downloaded about 500 songs before his internet provider notified him about the music industry’s interest in his activities.

“I’ve been pretending it was going to go away,” said Davis, who teaches photography.

Another defendant, Lisa Schamis of New York, said her internet provider warned her two months ago that record industry lawyers had asked for her name and address, but she said she had no idea she might be sued. She acknowledged downloading “lots” of music over file-sharing networks.

“This is ridiculous,” said Schamis, 26. “People like me who did this, I didn’t understand it was illegal.”

An estimated 60 million Americans participate in file-sharing networks, using software that makes it simple for computer users to locate and retrieve for free virtually any song by any artists within moments.

Internet users broadly acknowledge music-trading is illegal, but the practice has flourished in recent years since copyright statutes are among the most popularly flouted laws online.

“Nobody likes playing the heavy,” said RIAA President Cary Sherman, who compared illegal music downloads to shoplifting. “There comes a time when you have to stand up and take appropriate action.”

With estimates that half of file-sharers are teenagers, all sides braced for the inevitable legal debate surrounding the financial damage to parents or grandparents.

The RIAA named as the defendant in each lawsuit the person who paid for the household Internet account. Lawyers said that in some states, such as California, parents are not explicitly liable for copyright infringement by minor children.

“That question will come up immediately, whether a minor can have the requisite knowledge to be the right defendant,” said Susan Crawford, who teaches cyberlaw at in New York. “A very young child who didn’t know what they were doing would be a bad defendant for the industry. It will make them look terrible.”

The RIAA also announced an amnesty programme for people who admit they illegally share music, promising not to sue them in exchange for their admission and pledge to delete the songs off their computers.

The offer does not apply to people who already are targets of copyright subpoenas.

“If you’ve already been targeted, it doesn’t seem like it would be appropriate to invite amnesty in that situation it would be an invitation to infringe until you get caught,” Sherman said.

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