The Recording Industry Association of America filed a new round of copyright lawsuits against 477 anonymous music file swappers Wednesday, bringing the total number of people sued to nearly 2,500 in eight months.
As with March’s wave of suits, the organization highlighted its litigation against university students, this time at 14 separate schools. Record labels have been particularly concerned about high levels of music trading on campuses, where students often have access to fast Internet connections and little money for music purchases.
“Along with offering students legitimate music services, campuswide educational and technological initiatives are playing a critical role” in diminishing file trading, RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a statement. “But there is also a complementary need for enforcement by copyright owners against the serious offenders–to remind people that this activity is illegal.� The new wave of lawsuits, coming on the anniversary of the release of Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store, serves as a stark reminder of how much the digital music landscape has changed in the past year.
Apple announced Wednesday that it has sold more than 70 million songs over the course of its year of digital download sales, providing clear evidence that a genuine market for online music sales is beginning to develop. Meanwhile, iTunes rivals Napster and MusicNet have reached out to college campuses, offering students cut-rate digital plans bundled with their ordinary student fees in hopes of weaning them away from unauthorized file-trading services like Kazaa.
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