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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 22, 2006 Recording industry hits hard, sues residents for ‘songlifting’ By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Leslie Maxfield, his wife and three daughters are "a music family" whose tastes for old rock, country western and other tunes sent them to an Internet site offering free music downloads. "My daughter burned me a CD and gave it to me for Father’s Day," says Maxfield, a Klamath Falls maintenance technician. "Rolling Stones, AC/DC." But the seemingly free tunes could cost the Maxfields thousands of dollars as they discovered themselves Friday amid the music industry’s battle against unauthorized music downloads. Maxfield is one of three Southern Oregon residents among 235 people across the country who were sued Friday in federal court by the recording industry for allegedly illegally distributing music over the Internet. They were named in separate copyright infringement civil suits filed in federal courts across the country by the Recording Industry Association of America on behalf of several record companies. Advertisement Individual suits also filed Friday in U.S. Federal Court in Medford identified the defendants only as Jeanie Metzer of Jackson County and Eva Thomas of Josephine County. They could not be identified and located Friday for comment. The suits accuses them of "songlifting," the process of sending copyrighted music over the Internet via peer-to-peer services not authorized by recording companies. Songlifting is illegal under federal copyright laws and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously last year that those who use the unauthorized services can be liable for copyright infringement. Recording Industry Association of America spokeswoman Jenni Engebretsen called songlifting "theft" that harms everyone in the recording industry, from songwriters to record store clerks and part of the reason the industry’s shipments of cassettes and CDs have dropped 35 percent since 1999. "This online theft has taken a tremendous toll on the industry as a whole," Engebretsen said. "Our goal is to protect our ability to invest in the next generation of music," she said. "Also, it’s to give legal online services a chance to flourish." The suit seeks unspecified penalties as well as the record companies’ attorney fees. "We’re not a rich family," said Maxfield, 52. "They stand to ruin us. My kids and myself could be out on the streets." Maxfield’s lawsuit alleges that 834 music files were downloaded to their computer through KaZaa, a file-sharing service not authorized by the individual record companies that do license their music for sale through authorized online services like iTunes and Napster. (Napster has evolved from an illegal service to a legal format). Maxfield said he and his family had no idea the free downloads were copyright infringements. The family stopped downloading music last year after receiving a phone call from their Internet provider. Maxwell insisted Friday that he never sold any of the music. "It’s all on our computer," he said. The family last year received a letter from an attorney informing them that they could be sued for up to $1,700 per song, but heard nothing about the case until he was contacted Friday by the Mail Tribune. "It’s all about the money," Maxfield said. "They’re a bunch of blood-suckers." Engebretsen declined to comment on any specific case. The industry won its Supreme Court case last year against Grokster, another person-to-person service for illegal downloads and eventually settled with the company, according to the RIAA. Since then, the RIAA has sent cease-and-desist notices to seven other unauthorized providers like KaZaa, but Engebretsen declined to identify the providers. The Maxfields came to the music industry’s attention after it first filed a "John Doe" suit because the plaintiffs only knew of the family through its Internet address. But that suit allowed industry lawyers to subpoena records from Internet service providers to identify the Maxfields and the other defendants by name. The three suits, with just the defendants’ names, were refiled Friday in Medford. A fourth Oregon suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, the RIAA said in a news release. Since September 2003, the RIAA has filed more than 18,200 lawsuits nationwide, and about 4,300 of the defendants like Maxfield have settled, according to the RIAA. Engebretsen declined to reveal the sizes of the settlements. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail Recording industry hits hard, sues residents for �songlifting� ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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