Recording Industry Association of America
Encyclopedia
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA say "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States." RIAA has its headquarters in Washington D.C.
The RIAA was formed in 1952 primarily to administer the RIAA equalization
curve, a technical standard of frequency
response applied to vinyl records during recording.
The RIAA participates in the collective rights management
of sound recording. The association is also responsible for certifying
Gold and Platinum albums and singles
in the USA.
The RIAA lists its goals as:
has been the RIAA's chairman and CEO since 2011. Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel
in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO.
Mitch Glazier has been the RIAA's senior executive vice president since 2011. He served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011.
The past RIAA chairman and CEO is the Mitch Bainwol
, who served from 2003 to 2011. He left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
.
The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, drawn mostly from the big four members of the RIAA. The board is currently made up of:
The RIAA represents over 1,600 member labels, which are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and which collectively create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the United States. The largest and most influential of the members are the "Big Four" that include:
The total retail value of recordings sold by members of the RIAA is reported to be $10.4 billion at the end of 2007, reflecting a decline from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999.
Since 2000, the RIAA also operates a similar program for Spanish language
music sales, called Los Premios de Oro y De Platino. Currently, a Disco De Oro (Gold) is awarded for 50,000 units and a Disco De Platino is awarded for 100,000 units, with Album Multi-Platino at 200,000. To be eligible for this award, sound recordings must contain more than 50% Spanish language content.
), and excluding other obviously-digital media such as those on CD
, DAT
, or MiniDisc
. In 2006, "digital ringtones" were added to this branch of certification. , the certification criteria for these recordings are as follows:
The association has commenced high profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers. It has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children. It is accused of employing techniques such as peer-to-peer "decoying" and "spoofing
" to combat file sharing.
As of late 2008 they have announced they will stop their lawsuits, and instead are attempting to work with ISPs who will use a three-strike warning system for file sharing, and upon the third strike will cut off Internet service all together. However as of 2009 no major ISPs have announced they are part of the plan, and Verizon has publicly denied any involvement with this plan.
, and as such do not know any additional information about a person before they sue. After an Internet subscriber's identity is discovered, but before an individual lawsuit is filed, the subscriber is typically offered an opportunity to settle. The standard settlement is a payment to the RIAA and an agreement not to engage in file-sharing of music and is usually on par with statutory damages of $750 per work, with the RIAA choosing the number of works it deems "reasonable." For cases that do not settle at this amount, the RIAA has gone to trial, seeking statutory damages from the jury, written into The Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 as between $750 and $30,000 per work or $750 and $150,000 per work if "willful." In the case RIAA v. Tenenbaum
, the jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 per song shared by Joel Tenenbaum resulting in a judgment of $675,000 for the shared 30 tracks (this was later reduced to $67,500 by the judge) and in the case RIAA v. Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the jury awarded $80,000 per song, or $1.92 million for 24 tracks (this award was later reduced by the judge to $54,000, though the final amount of damages has yet to be determined).
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
and Public Citizen
oppose the ability of the RIAA and other companies to "strip Internet users of anonymity without allowing them to challenge the order in court."
The RIAA's methods of identifying individual users had, in some rare cases, led to the issuing of subpoena
to a recently deceased 83-year-old woman, an elderly computer novice, and a family reportedly without any computer at all.
The RIAA also launched an "early settlement
program" directed to ISPs and to colleges and universities, urging them to pass along letters to subscribers and students offering early settlements, prior to the disclosure of their identities. The settlement letters urged ISPs to preserve evidence for the benefit of the RIAA and invited the students and subscribers to visit an RIAA website for the purpose of entering into a "discount settlement" payable by credit card. By March 2007, the focus had shifted from ISPs to colleges and universities.
Rio PMP300
player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act
. The Rio PMP300
was significant because it was the second portable consumer MP3 digital audio player released on the market. The three judge panel ruled in favor of Diamond, paving the way for the development of the portable digital player market.
In 2003, the RIAA sued college student developers of LAN search engines Phynd
and Flatlan, describing them as "a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery."
In September 2003, the RIAA filed suit in civil court against several private individuals who had shared large numbers of files with Kazaa
. Most of these suits were settled with monetary payments averaging $3,000. Kazaa publisher Sharman Networks responded with a lawsuit against the RIAA, alleging that the terms of use of the network were violated and that unauthorized client software was used in the investigation to track down the individual file sharers (such as Kazaa Lite). An effort to throw out this suit was denied in January 2004, however, that suit was settled in 2006.
RIAA has also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital XM Satellite Radio
from enabling its subscribers from playing songs it has recorded from its satellite broadcasts. It is also suing several Internet radio stations.
On December 21, 2006, the RIAA filed a lawsuit against Russian owned and operated website AllOfMP3.com in the amount of $1.65 trillion ($1,650,000,000,000). This number was derived from multiplying 11 million songs with statutory damages
of $150,000 per song. The Moscow court ruled in favor of AllOfMP3.com.
On October 12, 2007, the RIAA sued Usenet.com seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the company from "aiding, encouraging, enabling, inducing, causing, materially contributing to, or otherwise facilitating" copyright infringement. This suit, the first that the RIAA has filed against a Usenet provider, has added another branch to the RIAA's rapidly expanding fight to curb the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials
. Unlike many of the RIAA's previous lawsuits, this suit is filed against the provider of a service who has no direct means of removing infringing content. The RIAA's argument relies heavily on the fact the Usenet.com, the only defendant that has been named currently, promoted their service with slogans and phrases that strongly suggested that the service could be used to obtain free music.
On April 28, 2008, RIAA member labels sued Project Playlist, a web music search site, claiming that the majority of the sound recordings in the site's index of links are infringing. Project Playlist's website denies that any of the music is hosted on Project Playlist's own servers.
On October 26, 2010, RIAA members won a case against LimeWire, a P2P file sharing network, for illegal distribution of copyrighted works. On October 29, in retaliation, riaa.org was taken offline via denial-of-service attack
executed by members of Operation Payback
and Anonymous
.
," thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels. Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light. The battle over the disputed provision led to the formation of the Recording Artists' Coalition
, which successfully lobbied for repeal of the change.
The RIAA was formed in 1952 primarily to administer the RIAA equalization
RIAA equalization
RIAA equalization is a specification for the correct recording of gramophone records, established by the Recording Industry Association of America...
curve, a technical standard of frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
response applied to vinyl records during recording.
The RIAA participates in the collective rights management
Collective rights management
Collective rights management is the licensing of copyright and related rights by organizations acting on behalf of rights owners. Collective management organisations, such as collecting societies, typically represent groups of copyright and related rights owners, such as authors, composers,...
of sound recording. The association is also responsible for certifying
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
Gold and Platinum albums and singles
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
in the USA.
The RIAA lists its goals as:
- to protect intellectual property rightsIntellectual propertyIntellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
and the First AmendmentFirst Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
rights of artists; - to perform research about the music industry;
- to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations and policies;
Company structure and sales
Cary ShermanCary Sherman
Cary H. Sherman is currently the President of the Recording Industry Association of America as has been for the past 13 years.-Education:Sherman graduated from Cornell University in 1968, and Harvard Law School in 1971.-Career:...
has been the RIAA's chairman and CEO since 2011. Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel
General Counsel
A general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...
in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO.
Mitch Glazier has been the RIAA's senior executive vice president since 2011. He served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011.
The past RIAA chairman and CEO is the Mitch Bainwol
Mitch Bainwol
Mitch Bainwol has been the chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America since 2003, succeeding Hilary Rosen. Prior to filling this position, he worked for 25 years in politics and federal policy-making. He and his wife Susan are parents of three children.-Early life and...
, who served from 2003 to 2011. He left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is a trade group of automobile manufacturers that operate in the United States. Their mission is to "represent the common interests of its members and provide a forum to enable them to advance public policies that meet consumer and societal needs for clean,...
.
The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, drawn mostly from the big four members of the RIAA. The board is currently made up of:
- Cary ShermanCary ShermanCary H. Sherman is currently the President of the Recording Industry Association of America as has been for the past 13 years.-Education:Sherman graduated from Cornell University in 1968, and Harvard Law School in 1971.-Career:...
- RIAA - Colin Finkelstein - EMI Recorded Music
- Bill Hearn - EMI Christian Music GroupEMI Christian Music GroupEMI Christian Music Group is a subsidiary of EMI which contains its Christian music record labels, and is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee...
- Deirdre McDonald - Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
- Terry Hemmings - Provident Music Group/Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
- Kevin Kelleher - Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
- Thomas HesseThomas HesseThomas Hesse is President of Sony Music Entertainment's Global Digital Business, US Sales, and Corporate Strategy. He reports to Doug Morris, Chief Executive Officer for Sony Music Entertainment...
- Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation.... - Julie Swidler - Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
- Luke Wood - Interscope RecordsInterscope RecordsInterscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
- Jeff Harleston - Universal Music GroupUniversal Music GroupUniversal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
- Zach Horowitz - Universal Music GroupUniversal Music GroupUniversal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
- Mel LewinterMel LewinterMel Lewinter is an American music industry executive. He currently serves as Executive Vice President of Label Strategy at Sony Music Entertainment.-Career:...
- Universal Motown Republic Group - Craig KallmanCraig KallmanCraig Kallman is Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records.Craig Kallman signed the legendary lyricist Percee P and released his sought after 12" "Puttin' Heads To Bed" on his imprint Big Beat in the early 1990s. He joined the company in 1991, when Atlantic acquired Kallman's independent Big Beat...
- The Atlantic Group - Paul RobinsonPaul RobinsonPaul Robinson may refer to:*Paul Robinson , United States comic strip artist *Paul Robinson , British poet from Liverpool, England...
- Warner Music GroupWarner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies... - Bob Cavallo - Buena Vista Music
- Glen Barros - Concord Music GroupConcord Music GroupConcord Music Group is a record company owned by Village Roadshow formed in 2004 by the merger of Concord Records and Fantasy Records. In 2005, the company acquired the classics and jazz label Telarc International. On December 18, 2006, Concord announced the re-launch of the soul label Stax;...
- Mike CurbMike CurbMichael Curb is an American musician, record company executive, NASCAR and IRL race car owner. A Republican, he served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983 under Democratic Governor Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, Jr...
- Curb RecordsCurb RecordsCurb Records is a record label started by Mike Curb originally as Sidewalk Records in 1963... - Michael KochMichael KochMichael Koch is a Swiss film director and actor.-Life and work:Michael Koch was singing in the Basel Boys Choir in his youth, where he achieved his first stage experiences when the choir participated in some opera productions of the Theater Basel...
- Entertainment One U.S. - Tom SilvermanTom SilvermanTom Silverman is the founder, chairman and CEO of the record label Tommy Boy Records , and he is co-founder of the independent film and television company Tommy Boy Films. Silverman co-founded Dance Music Report magazine, which ran from 1978 to 1992, and he co-founded the Dance Music Hall of Fame,...
- Tommy Boy Entertainment - Steve Bartels - Island RecordsIsland RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
The RIAA represents over 1,600 member labels, which are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and which collectively create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the United States. The largest and most influential of the members are the "Big Four" that include:
- EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
- Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
- Universal Music GroupUniversal Music GroupUniversal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
- Warner Music GroupWarner Music GroupWarner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
The total retail value of recordings sold by members of the RIAA is reported to be $10.4 billion at the end of 2007, reflecting a decline from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999.
Sales certification
The RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles and albums that reach 1,000,000 in sales. The criteria was changed in 1975 to be based on the number of copies sold, with albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales. In 1989 it changed again with a "Gold Award" for singles that reach 500,000 in sales and a "Platinum Award" for singles that reach 1,000,000 in sales, and in 1999 a Diamond Award for ten million sales. The awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members.Since 2000, the RIAA also operates a similar program for Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
music sales, called Los Premios de Oro y De Platino. Currently, a Disco De Oro (Gold) is awarded for 50,000 units and a Disco De Platino is awarded for 100,000 units, with Album Multi-Platino at 200,000. To be eligible for this award, sound recordings must contain more than 50% Spanish language content.
"Digital" sales certification
In 2004, the RIAA added a branch of certification for what it calls "digital" recordings, meaning roughly "recordings transferred to the recipient over a network" (such as those sold via the iTunes StoreITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
), and excluding other obviously-digital media such as those on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, DAT
Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As...
, or MiniDisc
MiniDisc
The disc is permanently housed in a cartridge with a sliding door, similar to the casing of a 3.5" floppy disk. This shutter is opened automatically by a mechanism upon insertion. The audio discs can either be recordable or premastered. Recordable MiniDiscs use a magneto-optical system to record...
. In 2006, "digital ringtones" were added to this branch of certification. , the certification criteria for these recordings are as follows:
- Silver: 100,000 copies
- Gold: 500,000 copies
- Platinum: 1,000,000 copies
- Multi-Platinum: 2,000,000 copies
- Diamond: 10,000,000 copies
Video Longform certification
Along with albums, digital albums, and singles there is another classification of music release called "Video Longform." This release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is slightly different from other styles.- Gold: 50,000
- Platinum: 100,000
Efforts against file sharing
The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music. Studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to substantial.The association has commenced high profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers. It has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children. It is accused of employing techniques such as peer-to-peer "decoying" and "spoofing
Spoofing (anti-piracy measure)
Spoofing, or decoying, is the practice of inundating online networks with bogus or incomplete files of the same name in an effort to reduce copyright infringement on peer-to-peer file sharing networks....
" to combat file sharing.
As of late 2008 they have announced they will stop their lawsuits, and instead are attempting to work with ISPs who will use a three-strike warning system for file sharing, and upon the third strike will cut off Internet service all together. However as of 2009 no major ISPs have announced they are part of the plan, and Verizon has publicly denied any involvement with this plan.
Selection of defendants
The RIAA names defendants based on ISP identification of the subscriber associated with an IP addressIP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
, and as such do not know any additional information about a person before they sue. After an Internet subscriber's identity is discovered, but before an individual lawsuit is filed, the subscriber is typically offered an opportunity to settle. The standard settlement is a payment to the RIAA and an agreement not to engage in file-sharing of music and is usually on par with statutory damages of $750 per work, with the RIAA choosing the number of works it deems "reasonable." For cases that do not settle at this amount, the RIAA has gone to trial, seeking statutory damages from the jury, written into The Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 as between $750 and $30,000 per work or $750 and $150,000 per work if "willful." In the case RIAA v. Tenenbaum
RIAA v. Tenenbaum
Sony BMG Music Entertainment et al. v. Tenenbaum is a court case wherein record label Sony BMG, along with Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic Records, Arista Records, and UMG Recordings accused Joel Tenenbaum of illegally downloading and sharing files, thus violating U.S. copyright law...
, the jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 per song shared by Joel Tenenbaum resulting in a judgment of $675,000 for the shared 30 tracks (this was later reduced to $67,500 by the judge) and in the case RIAA v. Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the jury awarded $80,000 per song, or $1.92 million for 24 tracks (this award was later reduced by the judge to $54,000, though the final amount of damages has yet to be determined).
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
and Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
oppose the ability of the RIAA and other companies to "strip Internet users of anonymity without allowing them to challenge the order in court."
The RIAA's methods of identifying individual users had, in some rare cases, led to the issuing of subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
to a recently deceased 83-year-old woman, an elderly computer novice, and a family reportedly without any computer at all.
Settlement programs
In February 2007 the RIAA began sending letters accusing Internet users of sharing files and directing them to web site P2PLAWSUITS.COM, where they can make "discount" settlements payable by credit card. The letters go on to say that anyone not settling will have lawsuits brought against them. Typical settlements are between $3,000 and $12,000. This new strategy was formed because the RIAA's legal fees were cutting into the income from settlements. In 2008, RIAA sued 19-year-old Ciara Sauro for allegedly sharing ten songs online.The RIAA also launched an "early settlement
Settlement (law)
In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing parties about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins. The term "settlement" also has other meanings in the context of law.-Basis:...
program" directed to ISPs and to colleges and universities, urging them to pass along letters to subscribers and students offering early settlements, prior to the disclosure of their identities. The settlement letters urged ISPs to preserve evidence for the benefit of the RIAA and invited the students and subscribers to visit an RIAA website for the purpose of entering into a "discount settlement" payable by credit card. By March 2007, the focus had shifted from ISPs to colleges and universities.
Lawsuits against other recording, distribution, and search technologies
In October 1998, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco claiming the Diamond MultimediaDiamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackStar, a PC add-on card which emulated Apple II computers...
Rio PMP300
Rio PMP300
The Rio PMP300 was a portable consumer MP3 digital audio player , and was produced by Diamond Multimedia. It was introduced September 15, 1998, and it shipped later that year.-Features:...
player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act
Audio Home Recording Act
The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 amended the United States copyright law by adding Chapter 10, "Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media"...
. The Rio PMP300
Rio PMP300
The Rio PMP300 was a portable consumer MP3 digital audio player , and was produced by Diamond Multimedia. It was introduced September 15, 1998, and it shipped later that year.-Features:...
was significant because it was the second portable consumer MP3 digital audio player released on the market. The three judge panel ruled in favor of Diamond, paving the way for the development of the portable digital player market.
In 2003, the RIAA sued college student developers of LAN search engines Phynd
Phynd
Phynd is a LAN-indexing search engine used to facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing over a local-area network.Although the search engine merely indexes public data that users elect to share through an integrated sharing feature in Microsoft Windows, its creators were sued by the RIAA for copyright...
and Flatlan, describing them as "a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery."
In September 2003, the RIAA filed suit in civil court against several private individuals who had shared large numbers of files with Kazaa
Kazaa
Kazaa Media Desktop started as a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks...
. Most of these suits were settled with monetary payments averaging $3,000. Kazaa publisher Sharman Networks responded with a lawsuit against the RIAA, alleging that the terms of use of the network were violated and that unauthorized client software was used in the investigation to track down the individual file sharers (such as Kazaa Lite). An effort to throw out this suit was denied in January 2004, however, that suit was settled in 2006.
RIAA has also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
from enabling its subscribers from playing songs it has recorded from its satellite broadcasts. It is also suing several Internet radio stations.
On December 21, 2006, the RIAA filed a lawsuit against Russian owned and operated website AllOfMP3.com in the amount of $1.65 trillion ($1,650,000,000,000). This number was derived from multiplying 11 million songs with statutory damages
Statutory damages
Statutory damages are a damage award in civil law, in which the amount awarded is stipulated within the statute rather than being calculated based on the degree of harm to the plaintiff. Lawmakers will provide for statutory damages for acts in which it is difficult to determine a precise value of...
of $150,000 per song. The Moscow court ruled in favor of AllOfMP3.com.
On October 12, 2007, the RIAA sued Usenet.com seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the company from "aiding, encouraging, enabling, inducing, causing, materially contributing to, or otherwise facilitating" copyright infringement. This suit, the first that the RIAA has filed against a Usenet provider, has added another branch to the RIAA's rapidly expanding fight to curb the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
. Unlike many of the RIAA's previous lawsuits, this suit is filed against the provider of a service who has no direct means of removing infringing content. The RIAA's argument relies heavily on the fact the Usenet.com, the only defendant that has been named currently, promoted their service with slogans and phrases that strongly suggested that the service could be used to obtain free music.
On April 28, 2008, RIAA member labels sued Project Playlist, a web music search site, claiming that the majority of the sound recordings in the site's index of links are infringing. Project Playlist's website denies that any of the music is hosted on Project Playlist's own servers.
On October 26, 2010, RIAA members won a case against LimeWire, a P2P file sharing network, for illegal distribution of copyrighted works. On October 29, in retaliation, riaa.org was taken offline via denial-of-service attack
Denial-of-service attack
A denial-of-service attack or distributed denial-of-service attack is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users...
executed by members of Operation Payback
Operation Payback
Operation Payback is a coordinated, decentralized group of attacks on opponents of Internet piracy by Internet activists using the "Anonymous" moniker - a group sometimes affiliated with the website 4chan. Operation Payback started as retaliation to distributed denial of service attacks on torrent...
and Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
.
The "work made for hire" controversy
In 1999, Mitch Glazier, a Congressional staff attorney, inserted, without public notice or comment, substantive language into the final markup of a "technical corrections" section of copyright legislation, classifying many music recordings as "works made for hireWork for hire
A work made for hire is an exception to the general rule that the person who actually creates a work is the legally recognized author of that work...
," thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels. Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light. The battle over the disputed provision led to the formation of the Recording Artists' Coalition
Recording Artists' Coalition
The Recording Artists' Coalition is an American music industry organization that represents recording artists, and attempts to defend their rights and interests. Compare and contrast with the RIAA, which represents the recording industry...
, which successfully lobbied for repeal of the change.
See also
- CRIACriaA cria is the name for a baby camelid such as a llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. It comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, crya , was coined by British sailors who explored Chile in the 18th century and were quick to describe the camelids onomatopoeically...
- IIPAInternational Intellectual Property AllianceThe International Intellectual Property Alliance , formed in 1984, is a private sector coalition of seven trade associations representing U.S...
- MPAAMotion Picture Association of AmericaThe Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
- Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) - Intellectual Property trade groups
- Parental AdvisoryParental AdvisoryParental Advisory is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America to audio and recordings in the United States containing excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for "explicit lyrics" in 1985, after pressure from the Parents...
- IFPIIFPIThe International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland...
- Global music industry market share dataGlobal music industry market share dataNote that this list ranks the markets based on retail value each market generates respectively per year. The retail value generated by each market varies from year to year. The figures are based on IFPI annual reports.-IFPI 2009 data:...
- Center for Copyright InformationCenter for Copyright InformationThe Center for Copyright Information is an American organization created by large media corporations which aims to curtail online copyright infringement by informing the public about online copyright law. The Center is responsible for creating the Copyright Alert System which uses Internet...