The RIAA was given a victory October 4th when a jury awarded them $222,000 in a landmark case against a file sharing single mother, Jammie Thomas. As many have noted, the case was something of a perfect storm for the record industry, involving a long-standing username, one computer that could be matched to the offending IP address, and a technically savvy defendant. Still, the news is being touted as a victory for the industry in their misguided fight against music “pirates.”
The problem is, this equation doesn’t add up. Here’s how it’s supposed to work:
1. The music industry sues file sharers
2. The music industry wins its lawsuits
3. Something magical happens, like pigs fly
4. People stop file sharing, and end their love affair with free music
Going from step one to step two is hard enough. The Thomas suit is one of the first clear victories in court the RIAA has had, after suffering numerous setbacks and settling many cases before trial. But it’s going from step two to step four that really doesn’t make sense. According to most statistics I can find, file sharing has only increased since the RIAA started treating its customers like criminals in 2003. Some sites put that increase at over 300%. Clearly, the “message” the RIAA was trying to send to file sharers isn’t getting through. In fact, despite high profile events like the Thomas case, you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to get sued by the record industry.
So, if these lawsuits fail to deter copyright infringement, surely they must be doing some good, right? Let’s run the numbers.
The record industry collectively pays the RIAA (most likely) millions of dollars per year. (The actual numbers are impossible to find, but they do have over a half million dollars in their lobbying budget, so their full operating budget must be pretty high.) The RIAA in turn pays its high priced lawyers an exorbitant amount to sue children, dead grannies, and college students, all people without a lot of money, shallow pockets as they say. Indeed, while it was once thought that the RIAA broke even on most of its lawsuits, they are actually losing quite a bit of money on each one.
But here’s the kicker: Even if the RIAA settles or wins a court judgement, even if the lawsuit isn’t thrown out of court for the frivolous piece of litigation it is, the artists who actually make the music that is being stolen don’t receive one thin dime back from the RIAA. That’s right, the artists who slave for years to make records, pour out their souls into their CDs, and enrich our lives in a myriad of ways don’t actually get any of the money recovered through these ridiculous lawsuits. Not one red cent.
Next time you wonder why CDs are $20, I think I have an answer for you. This system is broken. There is no reason to support the record industry by purchasing music. If you want to support artists, download their music for free and send them a crisp, new $5 bill. They’ll appreciate it a lot more, trust me.
