FAQ - Stepping Up The Campaign Against Illegal File-Sharing

1) WHO IS BEING SUED?

This is the next step of a sustained campaign in Europe which began in March and which has extended today to Austria, France and the UK. These markets join Germany, Italy and Denmark in launching legal action against people who distribute copyrighted music illegally.

2) HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE BEING SUED?

Today a total of 459 legal actions are being announced, following on from the first wave of 247 cases that were announced in March. The number of actions varies per country due to different legal processes. But this is only the beginning in every one - there will be more.

3) WHY ARE THEY BEING SUED?

They are being sued because they are charged with breaking copyright law by making music available to others via the internet without permission from those who created the music.

4) WHAT DAMAGE IS ILLEGAL FILE-SWAPPING CAUSING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY?

It's a huge problem. Surveys in many of the major markets prove that illegal file-sharing is a major factor in the fall in world music sales, down by more than US$6 billion in the last five years. Looking at just a few countries: in France, sales dropped by 15% in 2003 and by 22% in the first half of 2004; in Denmark sales are down by almost 50% in three years; and in Germany CD album sales have dropped by over 30% since 2000. These are countries whose broadband penetration has risen sharply over the same period of time.

5) WHO ARE THESE INDIVIDUALS BEING SUED BY?

They are being sued by the national record associations which represent the music recording industry, and in some cases by record labels themselves, in each country. Italy is the exception, where the cases are being brought by the public prosecutor.

6) IS THE RECORDING INDUSTRY SUING ITS OWN CUSTOMERS?

These are not music fans - these are people who are charged with distributing large amounts of copyrighted music illegally. Their actions are robbing people of their earnings and are tantamount to theft. They aren't fans, any more than people who lift CDs from record shops.

7) WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU JUST DOWNLOAD JUST A FEW TRACKS?

This campaign is aimed primarily at "major uploaders" i.e. those copying and distributing hundreds of files onto the internet to millions of people.

8) WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE SUED? WILL THEY GO TO JAIL OR BE FINED?

It's unlikely anyone will go to jail, although we have to comply with each country's legal system. However the biggest likely punishment is a large fine if the case is settled.

9) WHERE CAN I GET MUSIC LEGALLY ONLINE?

There are already more than 100 online music sites in Europe (more than 150 worldwide) which offer up to 1 million tracks - the equivalent of approximately 80,000 albums with more due to come on-stream in the next few months.

European sites include those from Coca-Cola, Apple's iTunes, Napster and SonyConnect.

A cross-industry initiative was launched last year to promote all the legitimate online services. You can link to the them all from the campaign website, see www.pro-music.org for a list of links.

10) ARE THESE ONE-OFF LAWSUITS OR WILL THERE BE MORE?

It is inevitable that other countries also suffering from the problem will also resort to lawsuits and join the six that are doing so in Europe now. Lawsuits in each country will continue for the foreseeable future.

11) WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE NOT SUED?

They should disable their P2P software's uploading capability which is a simple process - go to www.pro-music.org for details on how to do this on KaZaA and other P2P software providers' sites.

For more information contact IFPI Communications:

Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7900
Email: info@ifpi.org
Website: www.ifpi.org/ www.pro-music.org