Jim Carrollon music
Heinous act of sharing Gloria Estefan tracks
Record labels are sure to applaud the jury that dished out a $222,000 fine to Minnesota woman Jammie Thomas for copyright infringements as a result of making music available to share on the Kazaa online network.
Thomas received the fine for making available 24 songs by the likes of Journey, Linkin Park, Goo Goo Dolls, Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, Gloria Estefan, No Doubt and others.
While record business trade group the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have taken legal actions against some 30,000 people in the last four years, this was the first case to end up before a judge and jury.
The fine worked out at $9,250 per song and, according to one jury member interviewed by Wired magazine's Threat Level blog, the jury spent the bulk of their five hours' deliberation discussing the size of the fine. Two jurors sought to fine Thomas $150,000 per track, while one argued for a $750-a-track penalty.
"We wanted to send a message that you don't do this, that you have been warned," said juror Michael Hegg. "She should have settled out of court for a few thousand dollars."
Of course, that's what the RIAA would like to see happen as a result of the Thomas case. They hope that the size of the fine and the amount of publicity the case attracted means many of those being sued by them will settle, rather than risk a huge fine in court.
The RIAA will also be hoping that the successful outcome to the case will provide enough justification to their members to allow them continue their controversial, unpopular and expensive legal actions against file-sharers.
Yet the RIAA victory and subsequent spinning seems a little hollow when you consider that they were initially seeking $3.9 million damages plus fees from Thomas when the case commenced.
There is also the fact that the continued legal actions have failed to disrupt illegal file-sharing. Evidence produced in court showed than more than 2 million people were sharing hundreds of millions of songs on Kazaa on the night the RIAA investigated Thomas in February 2005.
Maybe the time, money and effort exerted in waging these legal battles could be better spent by RIAA members in trying to find new business models for their beleaguered companies.
More pre-Christmas gigs
A couple of weeks ago The Ticket published a comprehensive rundown of forthcoming gig highlights. However, with promoters reckoning that the Irish music fan has an insatiable hunger for live music, that list has grown by the day.
Besides the usual suspects (hello David Gray) and repeat offenders (CSS return for their umpteenth Irish show in '07) getting the cash together for the Christmas shopping, there are some very promising shows on the horizon.
Spiderman of the Rings daredevil Dan Deacon visits Galway (Róisín Dubh, November 30th), Sligo (Model Arts, December 1st) and Dublin (Whelan's, December 2nd), while Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore plays Dublin's Tripod on December 4th.
Self-styled emergency rockers are at Whelan's in Dublin on November 30th, Vic Chestnutt and his all-star indie band play Dublin's Button Factory on December 1st and the excellent Fuyija & Miyagi are also there on December 16th.
Vinyl double act
Vinyl freaks planning a trip to the LCD Soundsystem shows in Dublin next weekend should take in a visit to the merchandise stand.
The band are currently flogging a highly collectible tour-only EP featuring their version of Joy Division's No Love Lost. On the flipside (younger readers, this means the other side of the record) are recent LCD Soundsystem tour-mates Arcade Fire covering Serge Gainsbourg's Eurovision 1965 winner Poupée de Cire/Poupée de Son.
This may well be a better investment than taking out a defined contribution pension.
Plug in to new sounds
It's good to see that are still some brave souls keen to get involved in the record-releasing business.
A new Dublin electronic music label gets its first release out in November.
Mantrap is the brainchild of Sunil Sharpe, one of the main movers behind Give Us The Night, the lobby group hustling for an informed debate about club and venue opening hours.
The label's debut release comes from Dublin producer Magnetize, with a record due from Rory St John in early 2008.
"There's no digital label-only crap going on here, it's a real McCoy record label," says Sharpe.
