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Copyright Infringement - music

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wilbergris

Guest
I live in Pennsylvania. I played in band 7 years ago that no longer exists and I keep in touch with all the former members. While we were together, we recorded a multi-song demo tape of all original material. Years later, I created a website on a national Internet Service Provideer (ISP) that advertises my band and lets visitors download my songs for free. I never filed a copyright for the songs. Just the other day, I get a notice from a lawyer of the ISP stating that a complaint of copyright infringement was filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against my website for disributing copyrighted material. They said that I was violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Under the law, I must file a "counter notification" stating, under penalty of perjury, that the RIAA complaint is wrong. Then, if the RIAA believes me and doesn't file suit in federal court(!), I can once again distribute my songs. In the meantime, my website has been blocked from everyone, including myself, by my ISP.

My question is... Does the RIAA have the right to accuse me of copyright infringement if they have no grounds to prove it? We never belonged to the RIAA. The RIAA could not possibly represent he copyright holders. This is an obvious abuse of the law.

On a side note, the Act does have a provision that would allow me to sue for damages for filing a fraudulent complaint. Would it be worth it? I'm losing no money as a result of this, it is just a big pain in the butt.

Thanks.
Will



[This message has been edited by wilbergris (edited October 27, 2000).]
 


HomeGuru

Senior Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by wilbergris:
I live in Pennsylvania. I played in band 7 years ago that no longer exists and I keep in touch with all the former members. While we were together, we recorded a multi-song demo tape of all original material. Years later, I created a website on a national Internet Service Provideer (ISP) that advertises my band and lets visitors download my songs for free. I never filed a copyright for the songs. Just the other day, I get a notice from a lawyer of the ISP stating that a complaint of copyright infringement was filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against my website for disributing copyrighted material. They said that I was violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Under the law, I must file a "counter notification" stating, under penalty of perjury, that the RIAA complaint is wrong. Then, if the RIAA believes me and doesn't file suit in federal court(!), I can once again distribute my songs. In the meantime, my website has been blocked from everyone, including myself, by my ISP.

My question is... Does the RIAA have the right to accuse me of copyright infringement if they have no grounds to prove it? We never belonged to the RIAA. The RIAA could not possibly represent he copyright holders. This is an obvious abuse of the law.

On a side note, the Act does have a provision that would allow me to sue for damages for filing a fraudulent complaint. Would it be worth it? I'm losing no money as a result of this, it is just a big pain in the butt.

Thanks.
Will

[This message has been edited by wilbergris (edited October 27, 2000).]
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There may be a mix up. My suggestion is to contact the attorney and have a chat.
 

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