WASHINGTON (AP) – An anti-piracy campaign by the recording industry is threatening lawsuits to try to force stores to pull pirated music from their shelves.
The Recording Industry Association of America said Monday it is demanding a halt to illegal music sales at gas stations, convenience stores, groceries and some small music stores that the group has identified as offering illegal copies of music recordings.
The stores will receive letters from the association telling them to stop making illegal music sales, demanding a settlement fee and asking for help in finding other pirated music. The RIAA did not say how much money it is demanding.
Lawsuits will follow against stores that don’t comply, the group said.
Counterfeit CDs sold across the United States cost music companies $300 million a year, the RIAA said. The numbers are increasing as the equipment to make counterfeit copies becomes cheaper and smaller, according to industry statistics.
“This new initiative should serve as a clarion call for retail outlets of all shapes and sizes that we take music piracy seriously, and they need to get their house in order,” said Hilary Rosen, the association’s chief executive officer. “No one should think they operate below the radar anymore.”
The RIAA, which launched a major campaign against piracy in September that featured full-page newspaper ads, said sales of compact discs dropped 7 percent in the first half of 2002 after falling 5 percent in 2001. Copying of Internet files also is responsible for some of the decline, industry officials have said.
Last week, Secret Service agents in New York arrested three men and seized 35,000 illegally copied music discs, 10,000 movies on DVD and 421 compact disc burners that are used to make the counterfeit products.
The RIAA represents AOL Time Warner, EMI Group, Sony Corp. (SNE), Vivendi Universal (V) and Bertelsmann AG.
You can read more about it here.
Related Posts
- International recording industry targets parents in new anti-piracy campaign
- MPAA�s third round of anti-piracy campaign begins
- BillBoard.com: Poll on ‘Anti-Piracy’ Campaign
- Movie industry launches anti-piracy campaign
- RIAA hit by EFFing music campaign
Loading ...
