November 13, 2007 by Sean Lynch
Our ability as a society to transmit vast amounts of information has grown
exponentially over the last decade. Volumes of encyclopedia, books,
magazines, newspapers—let alone music—have become almost instantly
downloadable and retrievable, further feeding the frenzy of electronic
consumption. While to downloaders and users it may seem that there is
little or no real value to data they acquire through their activity, the
owners of that data take a significantly different stance. In the
recording industry, the battle between user and owner has been growing
over the decade and now we are faced with a question: what is the value of
a song?
¦lt;br /> In early October 2007, Sony BMG , Arista Records, Interscope Records, UMG
Recordings, Capitol Records, and Warner Brothers Records, each brought a
lawsuit against Jammie Thomas, a 30-year-old mother of two from Duluth,
Minnesota.[1] While it was not the first time the recording industry had
sued an individual, it was the first time a suit such as this reached the
courtroom.[2] Ms. Thomas was alleged to have downloaded and shared almost
2,000 songs in violation of copyright laws. In the end, the recording
companies decided to only pursue the infringement of copyright in 24
songs.[3] Nevertheless, the provisions of the Copyright Act in the US
allow for penalties of $750-$30,000 per song. Ms. Thomas was found liable
for $222,000US or $9,250US per song. Read the rest of this entry »
Follow Comments via RSS