FAQ for journalists

November 15, 2005

FAQ

1) IN WHAT COUNTRIES IS LEGAL ACTION BEING TAKEN?

Today's actions extend the policy of suing alleged illegal file-sharers to two new countries in Europe - Sweden and Switzerland; two new countries in Asia - Hong Kong and Singapore; and the first Latin American country - Argentina. They join Austria, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK and the US bringing the total of countries involved in litigation to 17.

2) HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE INVOLVED?

Today over 2,100 legal actions in 16 countries are being announced, bringing the total number of cases against illegal file-sharers to more than 3,800 in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

3) WHY ARE THESE ACTIONS BEING TAKEN?

The actions are taken against P2P uploaders who are 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-SHARING 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. In the last five years, the value of audio sales is down in Sweden 34%, Switzerland 23%, Hong Kong 25%, Germany 50%, Denmark 43%, Netherlands 35%, Italy 24%, Austria 30%, Finland 18% . These are countries whose broadband penetration and capacity has risen sharply over the same period of time.

5) WHO IS BRINGING THESE ACTIONS?

They are being brought by the national record industry associations which represent the music recording industry, and in some cases by record labels themselves, in each country. Where criminal cases are taken, such as in Italy, these are brought by the public prosecutor.

6) IS THE RECORDING INDUSTRY SUING ITS OWN CUSTOMERS?

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

7) WHY NOT TACKLE THE OPERATORS INSTEAD OF THE USERS?

The industry has also been taking action against the operators of the peer-to-peer systems, who are making profits from the large-scale infringement taking place in their systems. This year the industry has won cases in the US against Grokster and Morpheus, in Australia against Kazaa and has also had victories in Taiwan and Korea against peer-to-peer services operating locally. However, people who are uploading music without permission also share responsibility for the infringements.

8) WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU 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.

9) WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THOSE WHO GET CAUGHT? WILL THEY GO TO JAIL OR BE FINED?

That will depend on each country's legal system. However, the likely punishment is a large fine and damages.

10) WHERE CAN YOU GET MUSIC LEGALLY ONLINE?

There are already more than 325 online music sites worldwide (more than 190 in Europe) which offer up to 2 million tracks - the equivalent of approximately 165,000 albums.

Pan-European sites include those from Coca-Cola, Apple's iTunes, Napster and SonyConnect. In addition there is a plethora of specialised and regional services coming on-stream every month.

A cross-industry initiative promotes all the legitimate online services. You can link to them all from the website. See www.pro-music.org for a list of links.

11) 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 16 in Europe, Asia and Latin America that are doing so now. Lawsuits in each country will continue for the foreseeable future.

12) WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO MAKE SURE THEY DON'T FACE ACTION?

They should disable their P2P software's uploading capability and delete music from 'shared folders' on their computers - go to www.ifpi.org to get the free "Digital File Check" software that helps you do this. This software is for use at your discretion and does not tip off any anti-piracy groups.

For more information contact IFPI Communications:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7935
Email: press-office@ifpi.org
Website: www.ifpi.org / www.pro-music.org