Fresh RIAA lawsuit targets Vandy students

U.S. District Court case signals local downloaders are still risking major penalties

Email | Print By Milt Capps

The Recording Industry Association of America this week fired another volley into the ranks of Music City's illegal downloaders.

RIAA attorneys yesterday filed a lawsuit against 23 "John Doe's" accused of illegally downloading copyrighted music owned by 15 plaintiff companies, ranging from Arista, BMG and Warner; to Motown, Virgin and Zomba.

RIAA recently sent "prelitigation" demands for settlement to 32 Vanderbilt University students.

This week's federal lawsuit suggests that some of the VU students may not have received their letters or have opted not to settle, immediately, at a supposed discount.

Before RIAA adopted its prelitigation offer approach, at least one Vandy student is believed to have paid as much as $25,000 in penalties, after losing an RIAA lawsuit.

RIAA warns letter recipients that each illegal download carries a $750 penalty and warns them not to attempt deleting incriminating downloads from their computer systems.

An RIAA spokesperson told NashvillePost.com this afternoon the John Doe lawsuits are "placeholders" that mark future litigation if the defendants don't accept the prelitigation offer.

RIAA's practice is to identify offenders by monitoring file-sharing websites, determining Internet addresses of downloaders and then requesting local universities or Internet service providers to forward to their students or subscribers RIAA's letters offering out-of-court settlement.

Some universities have reportedly declined to forward RIAAs letters. Vanderbilt University officials have not yet responded to NashvillePost.com's request for comment this afternoon.

RIAA has filed suits against more than 26,000 persons since it launched its campaign four years ago. In February this year, RIAA announced it was sharpening its focus on downloading activity on college campuses.

RIAA contends that illegal downloads cost the entertainment industry $1.3 billion in 2006, and says that in 2006 more than half all college students engaged in illegal downloading of music and videos.

Plaintiffs in this week's lawsuit include Arista Records, Atlantic Recording Corp., BMG Music, Capitol Records, Elektra Entertainment Group, Interscope Records, Laface Records, Maverick Recording, Motown Record Company, Priority Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, Virgin Records America, Warner Bros. Records,, and Zomba Recording.

Representing RIAA member companies in this latest action are Chris Vlahos and Russell Taber of Nashville's Riley Warnock & Jacobson.