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The RIAA Logo.
The 'Recording Industry Association of America' (or 'RIAA') is a
trade group that represents the
recording industry in the
United States. Its members consist of a large number of private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, who create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the US. It is involved in a series of controversial
copyright infringement legal actions on behalf of its members. In some of those cases it has been called by the defendants "a cartel acting collusively in violation of the antitrust laws and of public policy, by tying their copyrights to each other, collusively litigating and settling all cases together, and by entering into an unlawful agreement among themselves to prosecute and to dispose of all cases in accordance with a uniform agreement, and through common lawyers, thus overreaching the bounds and scope of whatever copyrights they might have". See, e.g. ''UMG v. Lindor''
[1], where the RIAA has moved to "strike" those accusations. The motion to strike the charges is pending, and is scheduled to be taken under consideration by the Court on October 2, 2007.
The RIAA was formed in
1952 primarily to administer the
RIAA equalization curve, a technical standard of
frequency response applied to
vinyl records during manufacturing and playback. The RIAA has continued to participate in creating and administering technical standards for later systems of
music recording and reproduction, including
magnetic tape,
cassette tapes,
digital audio tapes,
CDs and software-based digital technologies.
The RIAA also participates in the collection, administration and distribution of music
licenses and
royalties.
The association is responsible for
certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in the USA. For more information about sales data see
List of best selling albums and
List of best selling singles.
The RIAA's stated goals
[2] are:
# to protect
intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists
# to perform research about the music industry
# to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations and policies.
Company structure
The RIAA is led by
Mitch Bainwol, who has been
Chairman and
CEO since
2003. He is assisted by
Cary Sherman, the President of the Board of Directors. There are 27 members of the board, who are drawn from a number of record companies.
[3]
The RIAA represents a large number of members (see
List of RIAA member labels), who are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and who create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the US.
The RIAA's website contains a
list of members, which has been disputed in the past, as
Matador Records,
Fat Wreck Chords[4] Lookout Records,
Epitaph Records and
Bloodshot Records (who are not members) have been listed there.
[5] Some may have been automatically included in the list as they were using RIAA members as
distributing labels.
Sales certification
Main articles: RIAA certification
The RIAA operates an award program for albums which sell a large number of copies.
[6] The scheme originally began in 1958, with a ''Gold Award'' for singles and albums which reach US$ 1 million sales. The scheme was changed in 1975 to be based on the number of copies sold, with singles and albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a ''Platinum Award'' was added for one million sales, and in 1999 a ''Diamond Award'' for ten million sales. The scheme is open to both RIAA members and non-members.
[7]
The RIAA also operates a similar scheme for
Spanish language music sales, called ''Los Premios Awards''.
Efforts against file sharing
Main articles: RIAA efforts against file sharing
The RIAA is a fierce opponent of
copyright infringement through
file-sharing, particularly targeting music files made available via the
Internet using
peer-to-peer software. The RIAA claims that such copyright infringement results in a reduction of profits of $4.2 billion per year for the music industry worldwide, which harms honest consumers, record labels, retailers and artists.
[8]
As of July 2006, the RIAA has sued more than 20,000
[9] people in the United States suspected of distributing copyrighted works, and have settled approximately 2,500 of the cases.
The RIAA's policy and method of suing individuals for copyright infringement is continually criticized.
Brad Templeton of the
Electronic Frontier Foundation has called the RIAA's lawsuits "
spamigation"
[10] and implied they are done merely to
intimidate people.
The
Electronic Frontier Foundation,
American Civil Liberties Union 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".
[11][11]
The RIAA names defendants based on ISP identification of the subscriber associated with an
IP address,
[13] and as such do not know any additional information about a person before they sue. This has led to them issuing
subpoenas to a dead grandmother,
[14], an elderly computer novice,
[15] a woman with
multiple sclerosis,
[16] and even those without any computer at all.
[17] Sometimes the RIAA continues to sue even in these cases, or seeks to discontinue without
prejudice (and thereby avoid compensating the defense for legal fees).
[18][19][20]
After learning that one alleged copyright infringer has died, the RIAA offered the deceased man's family a period of sixty days to grieve the man's death before they began to depose members of his family for the suit against his estate.
[11]
The RIAA also brings lawsuits against children, some as young as 12.
[22]
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 of several thousand dollars to the RIAA, and an agreement not to engage in file sharing of RIAA music.
Between September 2003 and April 2004, the RIAA, through its Clean Slate Program, offered
amnesty to file sharers not yet being investigated or sued for copyright infringement. The RIAA promised not to sue participants in the program, "on the condition that they refrain from future infringement,"
[23]. Critics suggest the offer was misleading and provided no real assurance against being sued.
[24] A lawsuit brought in California state court, ''Parke v. RIAA'', alleged the RIAA had committed fraudulent business practices by offering the program.
[25][26] In any event, the program was discontinued.
In February, 2007, the RIAA launched an 'early settlement program' directed to ISP's 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, which, if accepted, would save the RIAA the expense of litigation to procure the identities. The settlement letters urged ISP's 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.
[27]. By March 2007, the focus had shifted from ISP's to colleges and universities.
[28][29][30]
File sharing lawsuits
On
December 7 1999, the RIAA sued
Napster for providing a service which enabled users to download MP3 files off other users' machines. The RIAA claims that Napster "facilitates piracy of music on an unprecedented scale."
[31] In
2002 the RIAA also sued
Aimster, which provided a similar service. Napster became
bankrupt during the case; and has since been taken over by
Roxio and provides a download service which is sanctioned by the RIAA.
Between
2002 and
2003, the RIAA attempted to get
Verizon to disclose the identities of file-sharing customers based on a simple one-page
subpoena. Verizon attorney
Sarah Deutsch challenged the subpoena's validity on procedural and privacy grounds.
[32] In December of 2003, this failed when a federal appeals court overturned a lower court order. The RIAA claims this procedure was sanctioned by the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the appeals court ruled that the DMCA regulation applies only to data actually hosted by an
Internet service provider, rather than data on a customer's computer. The
United States Supreme Court declined to review this ruling in
2004. As a result, the RIAA must now file individual civil suits against each accused file-sharer, and the ISP and alleged file sharer have more legal avenues for preventing disclosure of their identity, making the entire process much more expensive, slow and complicated.
[33] The court opinion was written by Judge
Douglas Ginsburg.
In 2005,
Patricia Santangelo made the news by challenging the RIAA's lawsuit against her. While she succeeded in getting the lawsuit against her dismissed two years later, her children were then sued. A default judgment entered against her daughter Michelle for $30,750 for failing to respond to the lawsuit, was subsequently vacated.
[34] Another defendant, Tanya Andersen, a 41 year-old single mother living in
Oregon, filed counterclaims against the RIAA including a
RICO charge. The RIAA requested deposition of her 10 year-old daughter.
[35]. Subsequently the RIAA dropped the case, leaving open only the question of attorneys fees and the RIAA's liability under Ms. Andersen's counterclaims.
[36]. Thereafter, Ms. Andersen sued the RIAA, the record company plaintiffs, Safenet (MediaSentry), and Settlement Support Center LLC, for malicious prosecution,
[37], subsequently amending her complaint to turn the case into a class action.
[38]
In 2006, the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, the
American Civil Liberties Union,
Public Citizen, the
ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation, and the
American Association of Law Libraries submitted an
amicus curiae brief in support of the motion for attorneys fees that has been made by Deborah Foster in ''Capitol Records v. Debbie Foster'', in federal court in Oklahoma, requesting that attorney's fees be awarded to the defendant and alleging a pattern of inadequate investigation and abusive legal practices by the RIAA.
[39]
The RIAA asked the Court not to accept the ''amicus curiae'' brief, claiming that the "Movants attempt to paint a false picture of Plaintiffs and the recording industry run amok"
[40]. On February 6, 2007, the attorney's fee motion was granted.
[41][42][43][44] On July 16, 2007, the Court ordered the RIAA to pay Ms. Foster $68,685.23 in attorneys fees.
[45]
On
December 21 2006, the RIAA filed a lawsuit for Russian owned and operated website
AllOfMP3.com in the amount of $1.65
trillion. This number was derived from multiplying 11 million songs with
statutory damages of $150,000 per song. The RIAA could not obtain jurisdiction over this Russian website.
A critical case, which may determine the fate of the RIAA's litigation campaign, is ''Elektra v. Barker''.
[46] In that case, Tenise Barker, a 29-year-old nursing student in the Bronx, moved to dismiss the RIAA's complaint for lack of specificity, and on the ground that merely "making available" does not constitute a copyright infringement.
[47] In opposing Ms. Barker's motion, the RIAA argued that "making available" is indeed a copyright infringement. Upon learning of the RIAA's argument, which sought to expand copyright law, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the U.S. Internet Industry Association, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) submitted ''amicus curiae'' briefs supporting Ms. Barker's motion and rebutting the RIAA's argument. The Motion Picture Association of America, in turn, submitted a brief supporting the RIAA. The U.S. Department of Justice submitted a "Statement of Interest" refuting one argument made by the EFF, but taking no position on the "making available" issue; the DOJ stated that it has never prosecuted anyone for "making available".
[48] The case was argued before Judge Kenneth M. Karas in Manhattan federal court on January 26, 2007, who indicated that he will decide the "making available" issue. As of September 2, 2007, the parties are awaiting the Court's decision. Meanwhile, the same issue has been briefed in a more recent case,
Warner v. Cassin[49], also in the Southern District of New York, but in the Westchester Division.
In November, 2006, a Judge in a Brooklyn Federal court upheld the legal theory behind a defense claiming that the RIAA's damages theory -- which calls for aggregating
statutory damages of $750 per song in its lawsuits -- is unconstitutional, since the record companies' actual damages are less than $.70 per song.
[50][51][52]
In press reports, the RIAA assumes that every unauthorized copy of a song represents a lost sale.
[53][54][55] The logic behind this is highly criticized considering there is no guarantee an individual downloading the song would have purchased it were it not readily available via copyright infringing means. In fact a large number of studies conducted since the RIAA began its campaign against peer to peer file sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to very small.
[56] [57] [58]
In Texas, July 2007, Rhonda Crain (''Sony v. Crain''
[59]) sought leave to add a counterclaim against the RIAA
[60]) for knowingly engaging in "one or more overt acts of unlawful private investigation" in the RIAA case against Crain
[61].
High profile lawsuits
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 Multimedia 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 MP3 portable player market.
[62]
RIAA has also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital satellite radio XM from enabling its subscribers from playing songs it has recorded from its satellite broadcasts.
[63] It is also suing several Internet radio stations.
[64]
The "Work Made for Hire" controversy
In 1999, Stanley M. 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 hire," thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels.
[65] 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.
Legislation and regulation today
The RIAA has supported and still supports several pieces of legislation in the United States which it believes help it to prevent copyright infringement. This legislation includes the proposed ''
Digital Content Protection Act of 2006'', which is being considered by the
United States Senate. According to
PublicKnowledge[66] and the EFF,
[67] this would prevent new ways to use media content, and could prevent customers from recording music, even if covered by
fair use. This would effectively create a radio
broadcast flag rule. The RIAA has supported legislation in the past which also attempted to introduce a radio broadcast flag.
The RIAA is also involved in opposing legislation which involves the
free speech rights of artists, such as restrictions on sales of recordings which might be considered controversial or which have the
Parental Advisory label.
[68]
Boycotts
Several internet-based groups, including RIAA-Radar and, in March
2007
Gizmodo[2],
have advocated
boycotting RIAA member labels.
Cultural references
★
"Weird Al" Yankovic's single "
Don't Download This Song"
satirizes the RIAA's lawsuits against copyright infringers.
★ The
March 4,
2007 FoxTrot strip also satirized the RIAA's lawsuits, where Jason tried to teach his iguana Quincy to download music, because "it's one thing for them to go after single moms, widows, grandmothers, dead people and children... but sue an 'iguana'?! That'd be insane!"
[69]
★ The
Machinae Supremacy song "Legion of Stoopid" refers to the company as the "Recording Industry Assholes of America".
★
MC Lars's single
Download This Song criticized the RIAA and the music industry in general, mentioning the RIAA's lawsuits against "little kids downloading hit songs."
Similar organizations
★ The
MPAA tries to prevent copyright infringement of movies in the
United States. Sometimes the shorthand
★
★ AA is used to refer to both the RIAA and the MPAA. On April 1, 2006, John T. Haller parodied the two organizations on a joke website announcing their fictional merger, introducing another abbreviation for the fictional combined entity: "
MAFIAA" (Music And Film Industry Association of America, a satirical reference to
The Mafia).
[70]
★
BSA, the ''Business Software Alliance'', protects the intellectual property of software developers.
★
ESA, the ''Entertainment Software Association'', protects the intellectual property of game developers.
★
IFPI, the ''International Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers'' (
website). IFPI represents the recording industry worldwide with over 1450 members in 75 countries and affiliated industry associations in 48 countries. The IFPI works in partnership with similar national organizations, which are
listed on the site. IFPI are with the RIAA.
★
BPI, the ''British Phonographic Industry'' (
website) is the
UK music industry association. They founded the
BRIT Awards, and give Gold, Silver and Platinum disks for UK-based sales. While they also try to prevent and punish copyright infringement, their efforts are more subdued than those of the RIAA's.
★
FACT, the ''Federation Against Copyright Theft'' (
website) is the main
UK anti-copyright infringement organization, though it mainly deals with copyright infringement relating to films.
★
CRIA, the ''Canadian Recording Industry Association'' (
website) is the non-profit trade organization representing
Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings.
★
ARIA, the ''Australian Recording Industry Association'' (
website) is the organization which oversees the collection, administration and distribution of music licenses and royalties in
Australia.
★
RIANZ, the ''Recording Industry Association of New Zealand'', is the non-profit trade association for producers and artists in
New Zealand.
★
SGAE, the ''General society of Authors and Publishers'' in
Spain.
★
JASRAC, the ''Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers'' in
Japan.
★
RIAJ, the ''Recording industries Association of Japan''.
★
ROMS, the ''Russian Organization on Collective Management of Rights of Authors and Other Rightholders in Multimedia, Digital Networks & Visual Arts'' in
Russia.
★
AMPROFON, the ''
Mexican association of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms''.
★
AVPAS, ''Anti Video Piracy Association of
Singapore'' for anime.
See also
★
Anti-copyright
★
CRIA
★
List of RIAA member labels
★
Parental advisory
★
FCC
References
1. "RIAA Moves to Strike "Copyright Misuse" Affirmative Defense in UMG v. Lindor", Recording Industry vs. The People, August 29, 2007; "Record Company Collusion a Defense to RIAA Case?", Slashdot, August 30, 2007
2. RIAA web-site
3. Board of the RIAA (RIAA website)
4. ''[1]'',Fatwreck.com
5. ''How the RIAA expands its membership'', p2pnet
6. Gold and Platinum (Index) RIAA Website
7. Gold and Platinum Certification RIAA Website
8. Issues: Anti-Piracy RIAA
9. How To Not Get Sued for File Sharing
10. New word: Spamigation
11.
12.
13. Mom Fights Recording Industry CBS News
14. ''I sue dead people'', ARS Technica, ''4 February 2005''
15. Grandmother piracy lawsuit dropped
16. "Elektra v. Schwartz"
17. ''RIAA sues computer-less family,'' by Anders Bylund, the Ars Technica, ''24 April 2006''
18. Elektra v. Santangelo"
19. Warner v. Stubbs
20. Elektra v. Dennis
21.
22. ''RIAA settles with 12-year-old girl'', CNet News, ''9 September 2003''
23. ''Clean Slate Program'', RIAA Website
24. ''Fake "Clean Slate" Gone - How About a Real One?'', EFF Deep Links, ''April 17, 2004''
25. ''''Parke v. RIAA'', Complaint'', ''September 9, 2003''
26. Ira Rothken, ''Consumers Strike Back, Sue RIAA'', PCWorld.com, ''September 11, 2003''
27. "RIAA Adopts New Policy, offers Pre-Doe settlement option if ISP Holds Logs Longer, Asks ISP's to Correct Identification Mistakes" Recording Industry vs. The People, February 13, 2007.
28. " RIAA targets university students" (Variety.com)
29. Record Companies to Accused Pirates: Deal or No Deal? Brock Read
30. "Recording industry battles piracy" by Elizabeth Lauten, ''The East Carolinian'' (East Carolina University), April 4 2007
31. ''Frequently Asked Questions - Napster and Digital Music'', RIAA Website
32. Verizon's copyright campaign Declan McCullagh
33. Subpoena Defense
34. "Default Judgment against Michelle Santangelo vacated; RIAA seeks 3 in attorneys' fees" Recording Industry vs. The People, July 19, 2007.
35. "RIAA Insists on Deposing Tanya Andersen's 10-year-old daughter", Recording Industry vs The People, "23 March 2007"
36. " RIAA Drops its Case Against Tanya Andersen" Recording Industry vs. The People, June 4, 2007
37. "Tanya Andersen Sues RIAA for Malicious Prosecution in Oregon" Recording Industry vs The People, June 25, 2007
38. "RIAA Faces Serious Piracy Lawsuit", Variety.com, August 30, 2007; "Woman Targets RIAA With Lawsuit", Forbes.com, August 29, 2007; "RIAA faces possible class action over suing the innocent", Ars Technica, August 17, 2007; "RIAA named in first class action", p2pnet, August 16, 2007; "Class Action Initiated Against RIAA", Slashdot, August 17, 2007. For link to
★ pdf file of amended complaint: "Tanya Andersen Brings Class Action Against RIAA", Recording Industry vs. The People, August 16, 2007.
39. EFF, ACLU, American Association of Law Libraries, Public Citizen, ACLU of Oklahoma, Come to Aid of Deborah Foster, File Amicus Brief in Support
40. RIAA-lawyer claims the brief accuses the recording industry to run amok
41. "Judge Grants Debbie Foster's Attorneys Fees Motion in Capitol v. Foster"; Recording Industry vs. The People
42. "For the Cynics, an Antidote: The Order in Capitol v. Foster"; Groklaw
43. "Victory for RIAA Victim"; p2pnet.net
44. "Victim of RIAA "driftnet" awarded attorneys' fees"; Ars Technica
45. "Judge Awards ,685.23 in Attorneys Fees Against RIAA in Capitol v. Foster" Recording Industry vs. The People, July 16, 2007
46. Elektra v. Barker
47. "Is 'Making Available' Copyright Infringement?" Hollywood Reporter ESQ
48. Statement of Interest of US Government in Elektra Barker, page 5, footnote 3.
49. Warner v. Cassin
50. UMG v. Lindor, November 9, 2006, Decision (pdf)
51. Federal judge orders RIAA to justify damages sought link 1
52. Federal judge orders RIAA to justify damages sought link 1
53. How the RIAA Does Math: Why You Might Be A Million Felon Techdirt
54. How Much Is Your Stolen Music Worth? Slate
55. RIAA's Excessive Loss Claims Unconstitutional? Techdirt
56. http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_March2004.pdf
57. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/21/business/yourmoney/21view.html?ex=1258693200&en=a210357f5dcc8523&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
58. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=technology&res=9C02E2D91139F936A35757C0A9629C8B63
59. "SONY v. Crain"
60. http://www.ilrweb.com/viewILRPDF.asp?filename=sony_crain_070703MotAmendAnsCounterclaims
61. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070704-riaa-sued-for-using-illegal-investigatory-practices.html
62. ''Court OKs Diamond Rio MP3 Player'', by Elizabeth Clampet, InternetNews.Com, 16 June 1999
63. ''XM Faces The Music In RIAA Copyright Suit'', by Joseph Palenchar, TWICE, ''22 May 2006''
64. ''RIAA sues Internet radio stations'', Out-Law.com, ''July 2001''
65. Rule Reversal: Blame It on RIAA Wired
66. ''"New and Improved" Draft Broadcast Flag Bill: This Time for TV and Radio'', by Alex Curtis, PublicKnowledge, ''20 January 2006''
67. ''New Senate Broadcast Flag Bill Would Freeze Fair Use'', EFF Deep Links, 20 January, 2006
68. ''Freedom of Speech'', RIAA Website
69. FoxTrot comic from March 4, 2007
70. http://www.mafiaa.org/
External links
★
RIAA official website
★
The RIAA Radar Find out if a specific CD was released by a RIAA member
★
The Subpoena Defense Alliance - provides information on court decisions related to identity disclosure and the Verizon case in particular
★
How the RIAA litigation process works - Legal explanation by attorney Ray Beckerman
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