12 year old girl slapped with RIAA charge

[CydCharisse]

Girl, 12, Settles Piracy Suit for $2,000
By TED BRIDIS, AP Technology Writer WASHINGTON - A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the Internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Tuesday to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter's actions violated U.S. copyright laws. The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America filed 261 such lawsuits across the country. Lawyers for the RIAA said Brianna's mother, Sylvia Torres, contacted them early Tuesday to negotiate. "We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Torres said in a statement distributed by the recording industry. "You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it anymore." Brianna added: "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love." The case against Brianna was a potential minefield for the music industry from a public relations standpoint. The family lives in a city housing project on New York's Upper West Side, and they said they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the Internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services. Even in the hours before the settlement was announced, Brianna was emerging as an example of what critics said was overzealous enforcement by the powerful music industry. The top lawyer for Verizon Communications Inc. charged earlier Tuesday during a Senate hearing that music lawyers had resorted to a "campaign against 12-year-old girls" rather than trying to help consumers turn to legal sources for songs online. Verizon's Internet subsidiary is engaged in a protracted legal fight against the RIAA over copyright subpoenas sent Verizon customers. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also alluded to Brianna's case. "Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?" Durbin asked RIAA President Cary Sherman during a Senate Judiciary hearing. Durbin said he appreciated the piracy threat to the recording industry, but added, "I think you have a tough public relations campaign to go after the offenders without appearing heavy-handed in the process." Sherman responded that most people don't shoplift because they fear they'll be arrested. "We're trying to let people know they may get caught, therefore they should not engage in this behavior," Sherman said. "Yes, there are going to be some kids caught in this, but you'd be surprised at how many adults are engaged in this activity."

 

[tommyj27]

Sherman responded that most people don't shoplift because they fear they'll be arrested.

i always figured that people don't shoplift because of a fundamental sense of right and wrong, i guess i'm just a moron, which is probably why i'm not a famous pop-star.

 

[freako104]

no tommy. its cause your smart your not a pop star seriously thats getting out of hand. I can agree with the RIAA in favour of the musicians but thats too far and they are in it for the $$ not for the artist. thats pathetic

 

[AnomalousEntity]

I think we should launch a grass roots campagin to ban all purchases of music in any format until this stupidity ceases.

I just hope they dont come after the 5 week old fetus my wife is carrying for over hearing some music I downloaded.

 

[tommyj27]

I just hope they dont come after the 5 week old fetus my wife is carrying for over hearing some music I downloaded.

maybe they should, it'd be the last nail in the PR coffin they've been making themselves

 

[Oz]

I think we should launch a grass roots campagin to ban all purchases of music in any format until this stupidity ceases.

People still buy music

The twelve year old kid was a bit over the top.

 

[freako104]

i do still buy. Ill only download so my batteries on my walkman dont die and also i dont want to buy a cd if I only like one or two songs.

 

[IDLEchild]

Fucking pricks. 12 year old users???......the RIAA is making itself look more and more like a clown campaign.

How about you don't fucking charge $20 for a cd.

 

[A.B.Normal]

Fucking pricks. 12 year old users???......the RIAA is making itself look more and more like a clown campaign.

How about you don't fucking charge $20 for a cd.

Or put out some decent music.

The economy is in a downturn, so of course music sales are lower than they were several years ago.Blaming this on 12yr olds who could not afford a $20 cd and therefore would not have bought the CD anyway ,is BS.All they are doing is turning people off their music all together.

 

[Oz]

Or put out some decent music..

 

[IDLEchild]

Or put out some decent music.

The economy is in a downturn, so of course music sales are lower than they were several years ago.Blaming this on 12yr olds who could not afford a $20 cd and therefore would not have bought the CD anyway ,is BS.All they are doing is turning people off their music all together.

Yup, theres a reason underground bands and independant labels are popular then ever.

 

[CydCharisse]

i do still buy. Ill only download so my batteries on my walkman dont die and also i dont want to buy a cd if I only like one or two songs.

Exactly! I'm sick of paying $15 to $20 for a CD and the only good song on it is the one the play on the radio a million times a day anyway. The RIAA should work on something where people can download music at a certain charge. Whether it be per song or a per month charge. Therefore, they don't waste hard earned money on crap they don't care to listen to.

How about you don't fucking charge $20 for a cd.

I agree. I think the RIAA should concentrate on lowering CD prices rathering than suing everybody.

 

[AnomalousEntity]

Steve and Kyle over at [H] has somthing going which is most likely going to completely pay off this girls settlement.

Posted around 4:41 today!

Posted by Steve 4:41 PM (CDT)

Help The RIAA Kid:
As most of you have seen this afternoon on CNN Headline News T.V. broadcasts, we are helping out the 12 year old kid sued by the RIAA. Normally, we do not get involved in this type of stuff but this is a special case. First of all, we firmly believe people should pay for their music, but this situation has extenuating circumstances. We are raising the money to help the 12 year old girl sued by the RIAA by raffling off 400 chances to win a nice water cooled computer.

This raffle is not about who is right or wrong, we don’t really care about that. What we are trying to do is help a 12 year old catholic school honor roll student who comes from a low income, single parent household. The $2000 fine from the RIAA for downloading music could easily break their household. We have a few things around here to put together a kick ass computer. The money will go a long way to help the kid out, you’ll feel good about yourself and to top it off… ONE OF YOU will get a nice computer for a mere $5, the odds are pretty damn good too ( only 400 chances to win ). This way, we have helped out and everyone is happy…..even the RIAA will be happy because they’ll have their money, that is what is important to them. This is a win-win-win situation

 

[Professur]

You people should take your act on the road. You're funny as hell.

Given that their only charging people who've downloaded over 1000 songs, that makes the settlement at less than $2 per song. Sounds fair to me.

Attacking 12 year olds? Gimme a break. It's copyrighted material. She knew it. You know it. Theft is theft. Plain and simple. You don't wanna pay $20 for a disc, don't. Noone's forcing you to. But don't steal it and claim that the cost is why. It's not a loaf of bread to feed starving children. It's music. You don't wanna pay for it, listen to the radio.

 

[AnomalousEntity]

You people should take your act on the road. You're funny as hell.

Given that their only charging people who've downloaded over 1000 songs, that makes the settlement at less than $2 per song. Sounds fair to me.

Attacking 12 year olds? Gimme a break. It's copyrighted material. She knew it. You know it. Theft is theft. Plain and simple. You don't wanna pay $20 for a disc, don't. Noone's forcing you to. But don't steal it and claim that the cost is why. It's not a loaf of bread to feed starving children. It's music. You don't wanna pay for it, listen to the radio.

Fair enough, but what is your response to this guys opinion?

 

[Professur]

Well, I skimmed the openning post, and I do have an answer. He's wrong. I've had the same argument with people (and companies) over software. You have the right to back up your own, purchased, CDs. You have the right to change the media (LP to 8 track) if you will. You do not have the right to distribute thos copies.

 

[AnomalousEntity]

Well, I skimmed the openning post, and I do have an answer. He's wrong. I've had the same argument with people (and companies) over software. You have the right to back up your own, purchased, CDs. You have the right to change the media (LP to 8 track) if you will. You do not have the right to distribute thos copies.

But since you purchased a "license" to that particular CD dont they owe you a new cd free of charge if your exsisting copy gets scratched or damaged?

And if you do own a permanent "license" to that particular album or tape, the the record industry owes you a free copy of the CD because you purchased the rights to the medium when you bought the original album.

Read the whole article.

Quite thought provoking I thought.

 

[Professur]

What? *shakes head* Did you even read what you just posted? They owe you ? What the fuck is this? Does Ford owe you a new car if you wrap your old one around a post? Read what I wrote. You!!! You have the right to back up your stuff. If your format your harddrive, Microsoft doesn't owe you dick. If the media changes, you have the right to copy your stuff onto that new media. I copied lots of software from 5 1/4 to 3 1/2 diskettes over the years. Perfectly legal.

What is this owe shit you've wrapped yourself up in? Get off it and join the real world. Noone owes you.

 

[CydCharisse]

OK....I didn't want this topic to become a fist fight......

 

[Jeebus_]

i belive they should charge a minimal fee for songs. like napsters doing since it got sued. and the 12 year old did know what she was doing because ive been dling songs since i was 11 and i even knew it was illegal.