From Denise_Incorvaia/RIAA@riaa.com Tue May 5 10:32:17 1998 Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 17:30:40 -0400 From: Denise_Incorvaia/RIAA@riaa.com To: btman@cco.caltech.edu Cc: Jonathan_Whitehead/RIAA@riaa.com Subject: unauthorized sound files VIA E-MAIL May 4, 1998 Brian Tiemann 8911 Colony Drive Redwood Valley, CA 95470 RE: http://www.lionking.org/sounds/MP3/ Dear Mr. Tiemann: I am counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. (RIAA) and for its members. RIAA is a trade association whose member companies create, manufacture and distribute approximately ninety (90) percent of all legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States. An area of increasing concern for our members is the unauthorized duplication, distribution and performance of their sound recordings via the Internet and on-line environment. We have learned that your service is hosting the above referenced site on its network. This site is offering, for download, full-length sound recordings from the original motion picture soundtrack of The Lion King, Rhythm of the Pride Lands, and The Lion King - Original Broadway Cast Recordings (as well as other recordings connected with The Lion King). These recordings are owned by one of our member companies and are offered without authorization from the copyright owner. The purpose of this letter is to notify you of these activities and seek your immediate assistance to stop continued unauthorized activities. Specifically, we request that you remove the infringing sound files from your network and provide us information on the individual(s) responsible for creating and/or maintaining the site. The Harm From Illegal Copying In the United States alone, the American recording industry loses hundreds of millions of dollars a year in displaced sales from unauthorized recordings, such as piracy and counterfeiting. If online copyrights are left unregulated or unguarded, the figure could rise exponentially, particularly as advances in hardware and software make piracy on the Internet and other technologies more pervasive. Our goal is to work with the Internet and online community and ensure that the law and our position are clearly understood. It is our hope that by mutually observing the laws in place, both the online industry and the music industry can flourish together in this new world of communications. Potentially Infringing Activities with Regard to Sound Recordings (The following information may be useful to you and/or your users. You also can direct your users to the RIAA's new web site dedicated to the discussion of copyright and the use of recorded music online. This site is at http://www.soundbyting.com.) Federal copyright law or state statutory or common law grants our members the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute their sound recordings. This includes making copies of and distributing sound recordings in the online environment. Thus, among other activities, the following, if unauthorized by the copyright owner, may violate our members' rights under federal or state law: 1. making a copy of all or a portion of a sound recording onto a computer hard drive, server, or other hardware used in connection with a web site or other online forum, 2. distributing a copy or permitting users to download sound recordings from the site or other forum to their own personal computers or servers, and/or 3. digitally transmitting (via streaming audio) to users, at their request, a particular sound recording chosen by or on behalf of the recipient. In June 1997, many of RIAA's member record companies filed lawsuits in three federal courts against three web sites. These sites, like the site listed above, reproduced full-length sound recordings to a server and then allowed users to download these recordings. In each of these cases, the courts issued decisions and consent judgments in favor of the RIAA's position and approved stipulated damages awards of over $1 million against each defendant. Individuals who have infringed copyrighted sound recordings may be civilly liable to the copyright owner for damages and profits or statutory damages of up to $100,000 per copyright infringed, as well as reimbursement of reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of the suit to the owner of the copyright in issue. Please note that if someone engages in the above-mentioned activities without the authorization of the appropriate copyright owner, he or she may be in violation of the law even if the person does not receive any direct or indirect revenue from the infringing site or specifically intends to violate our members' copyright and other rights. Unauthorized reproductions and distributions of copyrighted sound recordings over the Internet may also be subject to criminal penalties under federal copyright law, regardless of whether the site charges for its services. For first-time offenders, the penalties may include up to 3 years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, or both. You should understand that this letter constitutes notice to you that this site as well as your institution may be liable for the infringing activity occurring on your server. This letter does not constitute a waiver of any right to recover damages incurred by virtue of any such unauthorized activities, and such rights as well as claims for other relief are expressly retained. Please communicate with me at RIAA, 1330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, D.C., 20036, Tel. (202) 775-0101, or e-mail dincorvaia@riaa.com, to discuss this notice. We await your response. Very truly yours, Denise Incorvaia Associate Anti-Piracy Counsel* Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. *Admitted in the State of New York.