Freeloaders Beware - Justice Prevails

So, when those that think it's ok to steal songs without paying the artists get ahold of the comments section of this post, I expect a barrage of criticism - sobeit. Today, The justice system awarded $9,250 in damages to Capitol Records for each of the 24 songs that were stolen without being paid for, as reported (with a rather anti-RIAA slant, here) by Gizmodo.

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The maximum award was $150k, so the kid got off scott-free, relatively speaking. Further, if anyone thinks that the kid is going to ever actually make good on his due, keep dreaming. This was a message being sent to all those freeloaders who can't bother to pony up $0.99 a song - don't steal. This suit gives teeth to the letters the RIAA is sending out. (I might add, this was 24, out of over 1,000 that were stolen.)

Despite my criticisms of Getty, Corbis, et al, I will be the first to stand on their side when they sue for infringement of the works in their collection. What's good for them is good for me (and the rest of us). With over 100,000 of my images registered, methodically back to 1989, I intend to fully and completely protect my copyright.

The only thing people think they can steal and get away with more than music, are photographs. Damn the infringers, and full speed ahead!

From the site All Things Digital RIAA Stamping Out Music Piracy One Single-Mother-of-Two at a Time comes a citation of the LA Times, "“In sum, the case will be the first test of the RIAA’s ability to sell a jury on its investigative methods, which have a degree of imprecision because of the anonymous nature of the Internet,” according to the Times' Jon Healey. The blog went on to say "...the RIAA has the Internet protocol address it claims was used to illegally share the songs at issue in the case, it must demonstrate that Thomas was actually using it in order to win the case. And that may well prove difficult."

Guess Not.

The Jury says: Justice 1:Thieves 1.0E+9

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