Canadian Recording Industry Association Members May Be Liable for $6 Billion in Damages

Over the years we have heard of music copyright infringement cases arising as a result of peer file sharing and pirating. In Canada the recording industry has been allowed to claim individual file sharers are liable for $20,000 worth of damages per instance of copyright infringement.

Michael Geist's recent article in the Toronto Star enumerates the infringements made by four major members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association. Apparently, since the 1980s, Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada, have been using copyrighted music without permission or compensation often for compilation CDs. Instead of getting proper permission and giving proper compensation, these companies list the permissions as pending.

In some cases permissions may actually be pending. Some artists can be difficult to contact. This is clearly not the case with major artists who have now taken it upon themselves to file a class action lawsuit. They are filing for the damages claimed by the recording industry against individual file sharers per infringement. At $20,000 per instance of copyright infringement, of which there are about 300,000, it is estimated that the total could reach 6 billion dollars. On Michael Geist's personal website, he notes that the original figure of $60 billion was incorrect as simple multiplication will show.

The artists are also filing for punitive damages, which are fines that go above the amount of simple compensation. Punitive damages are assigned as a punishment in addition to simply paying back the amount owed. The artists argue that "the conduct of the defendant record companies is aggravated by their strict and unremitting approach to the enforcement of their copyright interests against consumers."

The recording industry has been arguing for years that pirating, and other forms of copyright infringement, hurt artists. Clearly these members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association are not concerned about the artists but instead about their own pocketbooks. Personally, I have several friends who have shared music files. While there are some people out there who want everything for free, the culture I have observed has been very different. My friends share music to get a sense of an artist. If they like the artist they go to shows and buy CD's and other merchandise. If they don't, then they didn't waste their money on an artist they wouldn't like. For the majority of artists, their popularity rises because people share their music. Many friends wouldn't try a new artist without sampling their work. Piracy in these cases does not hurt artists or the industry because it takes a person who was not going to purchase music into a fan who may do so in the future.

I hope that the Canadian Music Industry has to pay the artists. They are the ones who deserve to be rewarded for their musical talents. While I believe that $20,000 per copyright infraction is quite steep, but it makes sense to use the same standard the industry operates under when charging individual citizens. Individuals do not do $20,000 worth of damage per infraction. They could legally purchase the song for a couple of dollars most likely, and even if they shared the music with others, it is unlikely that the damages would reach $20,000. With the Canadian Music Industry we have a different story. Each infraction is then mass produced and marketed to sell in mainstream locations to consumers all over the country and perhaps the world. Each infraction could potentially reach a $20,000 value.

It is ironic that the Canadian Music Industry Association has been proclaiming the disrespect of consumers in their copyright infringements. Their ruthless pursuit of infractions by individual consumers is a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Individual consumers do very little harm to the artist or even the industry in general, if they do any harm at all. These members of the Canadian Music Industry Association, however, have willfully and flagrantly gone forward with copyright infringements since the 1980s, knowing full well they were harming artists.

Sources:

Michael Geist, "Geist: Record Industry Faces Liability Over Infringement", Toronto Star

Michael Geist "Canadian Recording Industry Faces $6 Billion Copyright Infringement Lawsuit", Personal Website