DES MOINES, Iowa — A pair of teenagers downloading songs by artists ranging from OutKast to Billy Joel through an Internet file-sharing service could cost their bewildered parents up to $4,000.
Sandy Nauman, a registered nurse from Des Moines, and her husband, Richard, have been sued in federal court by the Recording Industry Association of America — even though Nauman said neither of them could retrieve a song from the Internet to save their lives.
Nauman said her 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter quickly confessed to downloading the files when word of the lawsuit arrived in the mail.
A lawyer has advised them to settle with the RIAA as it continues its crackdown on an activity that major record companies consider to be copyright infringement. Most settlements have been about $3,000, though some have gone as high as $4,000.
Recording industry officials said they only pick egregious offenders. The lawsuit against the Naumans claims their kids downloaded more than 1,000 songs.
The mother said she’s warned friends and neighbors whose kids have been downloading that they’d better stop. The Naumans are among a group of 90 named defendants from across the country sued late last month in the latest round of lawsuits.
