Recording firms reach pacts with 64

Additional 838 granted file-sharing amnesty

By Chris Gaither, Globe Staff, 9/30/2003

SAN FRANCISCO -- The music recording industry said yesterday it had reached agreements to end legal action against 64 people accused of illegally sharing songs over the Internet and granted amnesty from future lawsuits to more than 800 others.

But the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the nation's largest music labels, is also facing more challenges in its effort to control the way music is distributed online.

The American Civil Liberties Union and a private attorney have asked a federal judge in Boston to quash the recording industry's demand that Boston College identify one of its students accused of sharing music over the university's network.

The recording industry has sued 261 people, including 46 in Massachusetts, for copyright infringement.

One Massachusetts woman who claimed she was falsely accused recently succeeded in having the lawsuit against her dismissed. Other defendants have vowed to fight their cases in court.

"They're just assuming that because these songs are on her computer it's a violation," said Shawn Parr, a lawyer representing an accounts payable clerk in Concord, Calif., sued by the industry.

His client, Lynette Neuman, is accused of using peer-to-peer software to share copyrighted songs.

Parr said Neuman had no immediate plans to settle the lawsuit, as other defendants have done, generally for less than $5,000.

"Can the plaintiffs meet their burden of proof? We take the stance that she's not guilty of anything," he said.

The recording industry association said that it had reached

settlements with 52 of the 261 people it sued Sept. 8 and with another 12 people who were sharing many songs but had not yet been sued. The music group has said all money won from file-sharers will go to its efforts to combat digital piracy.

Fearful of being sued as part of the recording industry's legal campaign, another 838 people have submitted affidavits promising to never again download or make copyrighted songs available to others through file-sharing programs, in exchange for amnesty. The total number of agreements is a miniscule percentage of the estimated 60 million people who have shared music over the Internet.

A 1998 law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act lets the recording industry subpoena Internet service providers for the identity of users accused of illegally sharing digital music.

Verizon Communications Inc. has fought recording industry subpoenas in court but lost.

The company is appealing the ruling but has revealed the identities of some customers to recording industry investigators.

Critics of the recording industry say the system is ripe for error. The first confirmed mistake among the 261 lawsuits filed emerged last week in Massachusetts, when the recording industry dismissed its suit against Sarah Seabury Ward, of Newbury. The sculptor, 66, uses an Apple computer, which does not run the version of the Kazaa file-sharing program that she was accused of using to share thousands of songs.

Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the recording industry association, said Ward's is the only case to have been dismissed as an apparent mistake.

The ACLU and a lawyer for an anonymous Boston College student, known in court papers as Jane Doe, have sought to block the recording industry's efforts to unmask her after the university said it planned to reveal her name and address. They said the subpoena violated her right to free speech and due process, among other arguments.

Many of the defendants in the recording industry lawsuits are also seeking help with legal bills and settlement costs. Downhill Battle, an advocacy group based in Worcester, yesterday began soliciting donations for a legal defense fund on its website, www.downhillbattle.org.

Through a debit program called PayPal, donors can contribute money directly to the defendants' accounts.

"We wanted to give the recording industry a message that lawsuits against families who can't defend themselves is just an unacceptable tactic," said Holmes Wilson, one of the organization's founders.

As of yesterday evening, Downhill Battle had raised $84.52. Neuman, whose legal costs are estimated at $15,000, had raised $1.34.

Chris Gaither can be reached at gaither@globe.com.