RIAA sues students for illegal file-sharing

By: Aditi Dubey

Posted: 3/16/07

The Recording Industry Association of America recently named Drexel University students in 14 lawsuits. These lawsuits were filed against students for illegal sharing of copyrighted material.

"Drexel was notified on March 3rd of the 14 impending lawsuits and is currently awaiting information from the RIAA on their 'pre-notice plan' that allows students to settle claims before a formal lawsuit is filed," said Laure Bachich Ergin, senior associate general counsel and managing attorney.

Roughly 400 of the current round of RIAA lawsuits are against college students, according to Drexel University's Office of the General Counsel. The incidents occurred in January and February and at this point, the RIAA has sent a list of 14 IP addresses, which are used to identify computers, to the University. No other action has been taken and the students are not being sued yet. The University is now waiting for a letter from the RIAA that they will forward to the students that tells them that they have been named by the RIAA for illegal file sharing, and that they are being given an opportunity to settle.

After a student's computer is identified for illegal file sharing, the Information Resources and Technology department turns off the student's ResNet port and disables their network connections. Then, they are referred to judicial affairs and are sanctioned.

"We are giving students an opportunity to settle," Ergin said. "We will not refer students to the RIAA without a subpoena."

Over the past two years, the RIAA has filed approximately 36 lawsuits against individuals who engage in illegal file sharing of copyrighted materials. In those cases, the RIAA filed "John Doe" lawsuits based on IP addresses and would then subpoena Drexel for the identities of the students associated with those IP addresses, according to OGC.

"Those students, after being notified by Drexel, had the unpleasant choice of either hiring an attorney to defend them in federal court or paying the RIAA $3,600 to settle the case," Ergin said. "It should be noted that the OGC cannot represent individual students in these matters, they just have the unpleasant task of explaining to parents what illegal downloading is and that their child is being sued for doing it."

Ergin further explained that OGC does not represent students in such situations because their client is the University as an entity.

"Students are not our agents in any way," Ergin said. "We do not represent the students for anything including illegal filesharing. They have to get their own counsel."

The OGC said that Drexel students should understand that the RIAA could initiate additional lawsuits in the future and that each student who continues to share copyrighted material illegally is running the risk of being the next defendant or facing judicial charges at Drexel.

"Even though students, faculty and staff can acquire digital music legally at discount prices through MusicSelect, it is not the taking of copyrighted material that students are getting sued for, it is the sharing," Ergin said. "So it is simple; don't use file-trading networks to acquire music and you won't get sued."

The USGA worked closely with IRT to initate MusicSelect last year and sees the lawsuits as unpleasant news.

"The RIAA is clearly still out of touch with our generation - it's a shame they feel that lawsuits are the only way to help everyone understand that what they're doing is illegal," USGA President Daniel Steinberg said. "They should instead be focusing on new ways of making music available without the restrictions of digital rights management.

"What they've been doing for the past few years obviously hasn't been working, yet they continue to do nothing but the same. Let's hope this is the last round of lawsuits for a long time."