Re: "CD manufacturers were sued, and lost..."

On Tue, 01 Sep 1998, Carol Shepherd <shepherd[_at_]arborlaw.com> wrote:
>
> According to a report from PRI (Public Radio International) this
> morning, "CD manufacturers" "were sued" and are now requiring
> producers to provide verification of copyright license or ownership.
>
> Anyone know which cases they're talking about?

I believe this might be litigation involving the Recording Industry Association of America, (RIAA). You might want to examine their website at: http://www.riaa.com/. Go to the anti-piracy news, under "press releases," which details their litigation efforts.

The RIAA recently (July 7, 1998), reached a $250,000 cash settlement with "Pros Entertainment Services, Inc.," against professional DJs who "create and manufacture multi-disk compilations of top hits without obtaining appropriate licenses from copyright holders." (http://www.riaa.com/press.htm)

In June 1998, the RIAA was awarded $4 million from "Quixote Corporation," for replicating illegal cd titles.

The RIAA has also sued "Americ Disc" (whose parent company is the Canadian "Disque Americ"). Filed in the US District Court, Central District of California, the suit seeks to hold the cd manufacturer responsible for pressing cds containing pirated/infringing works.

Lastly, in June the RIAA issued new guidelines instructing cd manufacturers to reject any part of a recording they believe might be pirated. (See also, LEXIS-NEXIS_Small NPR MORNING EDITION, Transcript # 98090112-210, Sept. 1, 1998, where the popular band, "Negativland" talks about its opposition to RIAA guidelines and litigation.)

Hope this helps,

-Natalie Norman
<natalien[_at_]uswest.net> Received on Wed Sep 02 1998 - 20:13:58 GMT