Intellectual Property and the Internet/Recording Industry Association of America

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA say "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate recorded music produced and sold in the United States." RIAA has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The RIAA was formed in 1952 primarily to administer the RIAA equalization curve, a technical standard of frequency response applied to vinyl records during recording. The RIAA participates in the collective rights management of sound recording. The association is also responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the USA.

The RIAA lists its goals as:
 * 1) to protect intellectual property rights and the First Amendment rights of artists;
 * 2) to perform research about the music industry;
 * 3) to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations and policies;

Company structure and sales
Cary Sherman has been the RIAA's chairman and CEO since 2011. Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO.

Mitch Glazier has been the RIAA's senior executive vice president since 2011. He served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011.

The past RIAA chairman and CEO is the Mitch Bainwol, who served from 2003 to 2011. He left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, drawn mostly from the big four members of the RIAA. The board is currently made up of:


 * Cary Sherman - RIAA
 * Colin Finkelstein - EMI Recorded Music
 * Bill Hearn - EMI Christian Music Group
 * Deirdre McDonald - Sony Music Entertainment
 * Terry Hemmings - Provident Music Group/Sony Music Entertainment
 * Kevin Kelleher - Sony Music Entertainment
 * Thomas Hesse - Sony Music Entertainment
 * Julie Swidler - Sony Music Entertainment
 * Luke Wood - Interscope Records
 * Jeff Harleston - Universal Music Group
 * Zach Horowitz - Universal Music Group
 * Mel Lewinter - Universal Motown Republic Group
 * Craig Kallman - The Atlantic Group
 * Paul Robinson - Warner Music Group
 * Bob Cavallo - Buena Vista Music
 * Glen Barros - Concord Music Group
 * Mike Curb - Curb Records
 * Michael Koch - Entertainment One U.S.
 * Tom Silverman - Tommy Boy Entertainment
 * Steve Bartels - Island Records

The RIAA represents over 1,600 member labels, which are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and which collectively create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the United States. The largest and most influential of the members are the "Big Four" that include:
 * EMI
 * Sony Music Entertainment
 * Universal Music Group
 * Warner Music Group

The total retail value of recordings sold by members of the RIAA is reported to be $10.4 billion at the end of 2007, reflecting a decline from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999.

Sales certification
The RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles and albums that reach 1,000,000 in sales. The criteria was changed in 1975 to be based on the number of copies sold, with albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales. In 1989 it changed again with a "Gold Award" for singles that reach 500,000 in sales and a "Platinum Award" for singles that reach 1,000,000 in sales, and in 1999 a Diamond Award for ten million sales. The awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members.

Since 2000, the RIAA also operates a similar program for Spanish language music sales, called Los Premios de Oro y De Platino. Currently, a Disco De Oro (Gold) is awarded for 50,000 units and a Disco De Platino is awarded for 100,000 units, with Album Multi-Platino at 200,000. To be eligible for this award, sound recordings must contain more than 50% Spanish language content.

"Digital" sales certification
In 2004, the RIAA added a branch of certification for what it calls "digital" recordings, meaning roughly "recordings transferred to the recipient over a network" (such as those sold via the iTunes Store), and excluding other obviously-digital media such as those on CD, DAT, or MiniDisc. In 2006, "digital ringtones" were added to this branch of certification. , the certification criteria for these recordings are as follows:


 * Silver: 100,000 copies
 * Gold: 500,000 copies
 * Platinum: 1,000,000 copies
 * Multi-Platinum: 2,000,000 copies
 * Diamond: 10,000,000 copies

Video Longform certification
Along with albums, digital albums, and singles there is another classification of music release called "Video Longform." This release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is slightly different from other styles.


 * Gold: 50,000
 * Platinum: 100,000

Efforts against file sharing
The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music. Studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to substantial.

The association has commenced high-profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers. It has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children. It is accused of employing techniques such as peer-to-peer "decoying" and "spoofing" to combat file sharing.

As of late 2008 they have announced they will stop their lawsuits, and instead are attempting to work with ISPs who will use a three-strike warning system for file sharing, and upon the third strike will cut off Internet service all together. However, as of 2009 no major ISPs have announced they are part of the plan, and Verizon has publicly denied any involvement with this plan.

Selection of defendants
The RIAA names defendants based on ISP identification of the subscriber associated with an IP address, and as such do not know any additional information about a person before they sue. After an Internet subscriber's identity is discovered, but before an individual lawsuit is filed, the subscriber is typically offered an opportunity to settle. The standard settlement is a payment to the RIAA and an agreement not to engage in file-sharing of music and is usually on par with statutory damages of $750 per work, with the RIAA choosing the number of works it deems "reasonable." For cases that do not settle at this amount, the RIAA has gone to trial, seeking statutory damages from the jury, written into The Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 as between $750 and $30,000 per work or $750 and $150,000 per work if "willful." In the case RIAA v. Tenenbaum, the jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 per song shared by Joel Tenenbaum resulting in a judgment of $675,000 for the shared 30 tracks (this was later reduced to $67,500 by the judge) and in the case RIAA v. Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the jury awarded $80,000 per song, or $1.92 million for 24 tracks (this award was later reduced by the judge to $54,000, though the final amount of damages has yet to be determined).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Citizen oppose the ability of the RIAA and other companies to "strip Internet users of anonymity without allowing them to challenge the order in court."

The RIAA's methods of identifying individual users had, in some rare cases, led to the issuing of subpoena to a recently deceased 83-year-old woman, an elderly computer novice, and a family reportedly without any computer at all.

Settlement programs
In February 2007 the RIAA began sending letters accusing Internet users of sharing files and directing them to web site P2PLAWSUITS.COM, where they can make "discount" settlements payable by credit card. The letters go on to say that anyone not settling will have lawsuits brought against them. Typical settlements are between $3,000 and $12,000. This new strategy was formed because the RIAA's legal fees were cutting into the income from settlements. In 2008, RIAA sued 19-year-old Ciara Sauro for allegedly sharing ten songs online.

The RIAA also launched an "early settlement program" directed to ISPs and to colleges and universities, urging them to pass along letters to subscribers and students offering early settlements, prior to the disclosure of their identities. The settlement letters urged ISPs to preserve evidence for the benefit of the RIAA and invited the students and subscribers to visit an RIAA website for the purpose of entering into a "discount settlement" payable by credit card. By March 2007, the focus had shifted from ISPs to colleges and universities.

In October 1998, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco claiming the Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300 player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act. The Rio PMP300 was significant because it was the second portable consumer MP3 digital audio player released on the market. The three judge panel ruled in favor of Diamond, paving the way for the development of the portable digital player market.

In 2003, the RIAA sued college student developers of LAN search engines Phynd and Flatlan, describing them as "a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery."

In September 2003, the RIAA filed suit in civil court against several private individuals who had shared large numbers of files with Kazaa. Most of these suits were settled with monetary payments averaging $3,000. Kazaa publisher Sharman Networks responded with a lawsuit against the RIAA, alleging that the terms of use of the network were violated and that unauthorized client software was used in the investigation to track down the individual file sharers (such as Kazaa Lite). An effort to throw out this suit was denied in January 2004, however, that suit was settled in 2006. Sharman Networks agreed to a global settlement of litigation brought against it by the MPAA, the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), and the RIAA. The creators of the popular Kazaa file-sharing network will pay $115 million to the RIAA, unspecified future amounts to the MPAA and the software industry, and install filters on its networks to prevent users from sharing copyrighted works on its network. Michael L. Williams 15:31, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

RIAA has also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital XM Satellite Radio from enabling its subscribers from playing songs it has recorded from its satellite broadcasts. It is also suing several Internet radio stations.

On December 21, 2006, the RIAA filed a lawsuit against Russian owned and operated website AllOfMP3.com in the amount of $1.65 trillion ($1,650,000,000,000). This number was derived from multiplying 11 million songs with statutory damages of $150,000 per song. The Moscow court ruled in favor of AllOfMP3.com.

On October 12, 2007, the RIAA sued Usenet.com seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the company from "aiding, encouraging, enabling, inducing, causing, materially contributing to, or otherwise facilitating" copyright infringement. This suit, the first that the RIAA has filed against a Usenet provider, has added another branch to the RIAA's rapidly expanding fight to curb the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials. Unlike many of the RIAA's previous lawsuits, this suit is filed against the provider of a service who has no direct means of removing infringing content. The RIAA's argument relies heavily on the fact the Usenet.com, the only defendant that has been named currently, promoted their service with slogans and phrases that strongly suggested that the service could be used to obtain free music.

On April 28, 2008, RIAA member labels sued Project Playlist, a web music search site, claiming that the majority of the sound recordings in the site's index of links are infringing. Project Playlist's website denies that any of the music is hosted on Project Playlist's own servers.

On June 30, 2009, The Recording Industry Association of America prevailed in its fight against Usenet.com, in a decision, that the U.S. District Judge Harold Baer of the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the music industry on all its main arguments: that Usenet.com is guilty of direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement. In addition, and perhaps most important for future cases, Baer said that Usenet.com can't claim protection under the Sony Betamax decision. That ruling states, companies can't be held liable for contributory infringement if the device they create is "capable of significant non-infringing uses." Furthermore, the parties are now headed to federal court for damage assessments and awards, which could amount to many, many millions of dollars for the music industry.

On October 26, 2010, RIAA members won a case against LimeWire, a P2P file sharing network, for illegal distribution of copyrighted works. On October 29, in retaliation, riaa.org was taken offline via denial-of-service attack executed by members of Operation Payback and Anonymous.

The "work made for hire" controversy
In 1999, Mitch Glazier, a Congressional staff attorney, inserted, without public notice or comment, substantive language into the final markup of a "technical corrections" section of copyright legislation, classifying many music recordings as "works made for hire," thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels. Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light. The battle over the disputed provision led to the formation of the Recording Artists' Coalition, which successfully lobbied for repeal of the change.