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`washingtonpost.com > Arts & Living > Music
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`CORRECTION TO THIS ARTICLE
`A Dec. 30 Style & Arts column incorrectly said that the recording industry "maintains that it is illegal for someone who has
`legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer." In a copyright-infringement lawsuit, the industry's lawyer
`argued that the actions of an Arizona man, the defendant, were illegal because the songs were located in a "shared folder"
`on his computer for distribution on a peer-to-peer network.
`
`THE LISTENER
`Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use
`By Marc Fisher
`Washington Post Staff Writer
`Sunday, December 30, 2007
`
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`Despite more than 20,000 lawsuits
`filed against music fans in the years
`since they started finding free tunes
`online rather than buying CDs from
`record companies, the recording
`industry has utterly failed to halt the
`decline of the record album or the
`rise of digital music sharing.
`
`Still, hardly a month goes by without
`a news release from the industry's
`lobby, the Recording Industry
`Association of America, touting a
`new wave of letters to college
`students and others demanding a
`settlement payment and threatening
`a legal battle.
`
`Now, in an unusual case in which an
`Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter
`has fought back in court rather than
`write a check to avoid hefty legal
`fees, the industry is taking its argument against music
`sharing one step further: In legal documents in its
`federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale,
`Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music
`recordings on his personal computer, the industry
`maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally
`purchased a CD to transfer that music into his
`computer.
`
`The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues
`in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files
`Howell made on his computer from legally bought
`CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted
`recordings.
`
`"I couldn't believe it when I read that," says Ray
`Beckerman, a New York lawyer who represents six
`clients who have been sued by the RIAA. "The basic
`principle in the law is that you have to distribute
`actual physical copies to be guilty of violating
`
`http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122800693.html[3/18/2014 3:06:38 PM]
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`Apple Exhibit 4402
`Apple v Sightsound Technologies
`CBM2013-00023
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`Download Uproar: Record Industry Goes After Personal Use
`
`copyright. But recently, the industry has been going around saying that even a personal
`copy on your computer is a violation."
`
`RIAA's hard-line position seems clear. Its
`Web site says: "If you make unauthorized
`copies of copyrighted music recordings,
`you're stealing. You're breaking the law and
`you could be held legally liable for
`thousands of dollars in damages."
`
`They're not kidding. In October, after a trial
`in Minnesota -- the first time the industry
`has made its case before a federal jury --
`Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay
`$220,000 to the big record companies.
`That's $9,250 for each of 24 songs she was
`
`accused of sharing online.
`
`Whether customers may copy their CDs onto their computers -- an act at the very heart
`of the digital revolution -- has a murky legal foundation, the RIAA argues. The industry's
`own Web site says that making a personal copy of a CD that you bought legitimately
`may not be a legal right, but it "won't usually raise concerns," as long as you don't give
`away the music or lend it to anyone.
`
`Of course, that's exactly what millions of people do every day. In a Los Angeles Times
`poll, 69 percent of teenagers surveyed said they thought it was legal to copy a CD they
`own and give it to a friend. The RIAA cites a study that found that more than half of
`current college students download music and movies illegally.
`
`The Howell case was not the first time the industry has argued that making a personal
`copy from a legally purchased CD is illegal. At the Thomas trial in Minnesota, Sony
`BMG's chief of litigation, Jennifer Pariser, testified that "when an individual makes a
`copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Copying a song you
`bought is "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy,' " she said.
`
`But lawyers for consumers point to a series of court rulings over the last few decades that
`found no violation of copyright law in the use of VCRs and other devices to time-shift
`TV programs; that is, to make personal copies for the purpose of making portable a
`legally obtained recording.
`
`As technologies evolve, old media companies tend not to be the source of the innovation
`that allows them to survive. Even so, new technologies don't usually kill off old media:
`That's the good news for the recording industry, as for the TV, movie, newspaper and
`magazine businesses. But for those old media to survive, they must adapt, finding new
`business models and new, compelling content to offer.
`
`The RIAA's legal crusade against its customers is a classic example of an old media
`company clinging to a business model that has collapsed. Four years of a failed strategy
`has only "created a whole market of people who specifically look to buy independent
`goods so as not to deal with the big record companies," Beckerman says. "Every problem
`they're trying to solve is worse now than when they started."
`
`The industry "will continue to bring lawsuits" against those who "ignore years of
`warnings," RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said in a statement. "It's not our first
`choice, but it's a necessary part of the equation. There are consequences for breaking the
`law." And, perhaps, for firing up your computer.
`
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`© 2007 The Washington Post Company
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