EFF: RIAA Petition
Because suing 12 year-old girls isn’t right.
Once they get 100,000 signatures they’ll take it to Congress. When I signed they were at 93,000 some, so they’re almost there!
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is on a rampage, launching legal attacks against average Americans from coast to coast. Rather than working to create a rational, legal means by which its customers can take advantage of file-sharing technology and pay a fair price for the music they love, it has chosen to sue people like Brianna LaHara, a 12 year-old girl living in New York City public housing.
Brianna, and hundreds of other music fans like her, are being forced to pay thousands of dollars they do not have to settle RIAA-member lawsuits — supporting a business model that is anything but rational. This crusade is generating thousands of subpoenas and hundreds of lawsuits, but not a single penny for the artists that the RIAA claims to protect.
Copyright law shouldn’t make criminals out of 60 million Americans, and it’s time for a change. Tell Congress that it’s time to stop the madness!
Text of the petition:
To The United States Congress:
We are the customers and former customers of the member labels of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). We love music and will gladly pay a fair price for it, but we are outraged by the RIAA’s tactics in suing ordinary Americans for filesharing.
We condemn the RIAA’s choice to force the family of a 12 year-old girl to forfeit $2,000 - money that could have gone to feed, clothe and educate this honor student. We stand with the retirees, parents, children and others who have been caught in the RIAA’s line of fire.
We respect reasonable copyright law, but we strongly oppose copyright enforcement that comes at the expense of privacy, due process and fair application of the law.
We urge you, as our representatives in Congress, to stop this madness.
We oppose the recording industry’s decision to attack the public, bankrupt its customers and offer false amnesty to those who would impugn themselves. We call instead for a real amnesty: the development of a legal alternative that preserves file-sharing technology while ensuring that artists are fairly compensated.
In signing this petition, we formally request that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), as representatives of the public interest, be included in any upcoming hearings regarding the proper scope of copyright enforcement in the digital age.
We sincerely thank you for your time.
If you agree, go sign the EFF: RIAA Petition.
There is an increasing number of artists who are speaking out about this:
Canadian Music Creators Coalition: A New Voice
(includes Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Stars, Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace), Dave Bidini (Rheostatics), Billy Talent, John K. Samson (Weakerthans), Broken Social Scene, Sloan, Andrew Cash and Bob Wiseman (Co-founder Blue Rodeo))
Suing Our Fans is Destructive and Hypocritical
Artists do not want to sue music fans. The labels have been suing our fans against our will, and laws enabling these suits cannot be justified in our names. We oppose any copyright reforms that would make it easier for record companies to do this. The government should repeal provisions of the Copyright Act that allow labels to unfairly punish fans who share music for non-commercial purposes with statutory damages of $500 to $20,000 per song.
April 28th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Not explicitly trying to be the devil’s advocate here, but I have two questions:
1. Why is it wrong to sue 12 year-old girls if they break the law? Is it wrong to sue them if they actually steal $2000 of goods from a store?
2. Why aren’t we holding the artists responsible for the behavior of the RIAA? For example, Sloan has only released records on RIAA-affiliated records *long after* the RIAA campaign started. Frankly, they probably just want it both ways — all the benefits and none of the blame. (Incidentally, Broken Social Scene doesn’t seem to be affiliated with an RIAA label at all. Why are they signatories?)
My point is that the hundreds of dollars per song is indeed probably wrong, but it is *not* wrong because 12 year-old girls, grandparents, and veterans are being sued (in the cases where they are actually downloading music — not always true). It’s wrong for completely different reasons.
April 28th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
Hey Boris,
Thanks for your comment :)
1. If a 12 year-old girl stole $2000 of goods from a store, one wouldn’t sue, one would prosecute.
2. Many artists are in a no-win situation. They are in long-term contracts with their labels, or are unable or unwilling to risk switching, because all of the major labels are RIAA. I’m still learning about the details of this area, so if you know details, please share.
And the “12 year-old girl” comment at the start of the post was more for the catchy start to a blogpost (marketing!) than as an actual arguement ;) You are correct that the reasons why the RIAA suing people is wrong is not because of folks being old or young.
Have you seen this tale of an MIT student’s woes with the RIAA?
http://blog.dominik.net/2006/04/07/riaa-to-mit-student-drop-out-to-pay-for-music/