London court orders online song swappers to pay fine

London court orders online song swappers to pay fine

	Published : Sat, 28 Jan 2006 20:10 By : Richard Owen Print this Story

LONDON: London's high court, in what is described as a landmark judgement, has ruled that two men, who were caught illegally swapping music on the internet, are liable for penal action and ordered them to pay thousands of pounds in bills.

The British Phonographic Institute said this is the first case of its kind in Britain, and it is for the first time that its assertion that file sharing is illegal has been tested in a court.

The BPI decided not to name the persons, but it said one of them was a postman from Brighton and the other was from King's Lynn. It had sued them under the Copyright and Patents Act.

The high court made its ruling in two different orders in November, asking the King's Lynn man to make an immediate payment of 5,000 pounds. He also faces legal costs of 13,500 pounds and an undisclosed sum for damages. The Brighton man, father of two children, was directed to pay 1,500 pounds pending a final decision on damages and costs.

The man from King's Lynn told the court that there was no direct evidence to link him with the illegal downloading. The man from Brighton claimed he was unaware that there are laws governing his action in sharing music. Justice Lawrence Collins overruled their contentions and levied the fine.

The BPI has launched some 140 legal cases since October 2004 against individuals identified as uploading large amount of music over peer-to-peer networks, which distribute data between users instead of using a central server. In most of these cases it had reached out-of-court settlements with individuals. This is for the first time it had taken the issue to a court.

The music industry estimates that there more than 900 million unauthorised music files on the internet.

BPI says the illegal file sharing has slowed down in the recent past as legitimate download services like Apple's iTunes are now operational and there is a greater awareness about legal action.

BPI's chairperson Peter Jamieson, said the courts have now clearly ruled that unauthorised file-sharing is against the law. "We have long said that unauthorised file-sharing is damaging the music industry and stealing the future of artists and the people who invest in them. Here is clear confirmation of what we also said - that unauthorised file-sharing is illegal."