London, October 28, 1999
The international recording industry today unveiled a new coordinated global strategy
against internet piracy, announcing actions against hundreds of infringing sites in more
than 20 countries worldwide.
The strategy incorporates actions taken over the last few months by allied
national groups representing the recording industry. It is aimed at ridding
the internet of large amounts of pirate content and paving the way for artists
and record companies to deliver music electronically and legally across the
world.
As the music industry enters the era of electronic commerce, artists and
record companies are preparing to deliver recordings legitimately on-line. In
fact, many have already begun offering music on the Internet. Just as in the
physical world of CDs, they need protection from piracy which undermines their
basic right to authorise the use of their creative works.
Today's action also highlights the urgent need for countries worldwide to
introduce copyright legislation to promote legitimate music delivery in the
on-line age, and to protect creators from internet piracy. Only ten
countries have ratified the international legal framework laid down in the
WIPO Treaties of 1996. Twenty more ratifications are needed for the Treaties
to come into force.
Fighting internet piracy involves targeting two groups - people who are
uploading infringing material on to the internet - commonly in the MP3 format
- to be downloaded for free or for payment; and Internet Service Providers
who may be hosting illegal web-sites and ignoring warning letters informing
them that these sites are infringing copyright.
Today's internet pirates are making available illegally a huge range of music
- from top international acts such as Madonna and Celine Dion to national
chart-topping artists singing local language repertoire.
The enforcement strategy is organised by national groups of IFPI, the
international trade organisation of the recording industry. IFPI estimates
that there are presently some 1 million illegal music files posted on the
Internet at any one time.
IFPI launched a global structure two years ago to fight the proliferation of
CD piracy, now worth $4.5 billion annually. The new global strategy to fight
internet piracy reflects the recording industry's concern over spreading
on-line piracy in the next few years.
Artists speak out for Legal Music
Coinciding with today's enforcement announcement is the launch in several
countries of a new rolling campaign "Action for Legal Music on the Internet".
Scores of artists are supporting the campaign.
In Sweden, one the world's most Internet-penetrated countries, more than 60
artists including Roxette and Lutricia Mcneal, have signed an open letter
calling for music to be protected in the on-line world. Support has also been
declared in France by top-selling acts Jean-Jacques Goldman and Pascal Obispo,
in Italy by Claudio Baglioni and Luca Barbarossa and by leading musicians in
Portugal. In Hong Kong, the three biggest-selling Chinese artists Leslie
Cheung, Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau added their voice to the campaign. Major
artists also spoke out in Austria. (Quotes from artists are available on
request).
IFPI Chairman Jay Berman said: "Today artists and record producers are
promoting the right way to use the Internet to get great music to millions of
fans and buyers across the world. People need educating that Internet piracy
is wrong because it denies creators the opportunity authorise the use of their
works. But, more than that, today's enforcement campaign by IFPI shows that
where internet pirates are persistently breaking the law, there is now a
global anti-piracy operation which will stop them and, if necessary, subject
them to the full force of the law".
Worldwide Enforcement Crackdown
The anti-piracy enforcement actions announced today comprise legal
initiatives, warning letters and "cease and desist" letters. The actions were
taken today or in the last few months by IFPI groups across the world. They
include:
Asia
Japan: 2,037 illegal MP3 files have been deleted so far this year.
South Korea: Since June 1998, IFPI Korea has sent more than 80 letters to
operators of pirate sites, and around 65% of those sites were closed down.
Meanwhile, the national group is also assisting government authorities in
taking actions against sellers of illegally copied MP3 CD-ROMs.
Hong Kong: IFPI Hong Kong has sent 70 warning letters to content providers
since June, of which about 55 have closed down.
Taiwan: IFPI Taiwan has located 67 sites containing infringing materials.
In 1998, a total of 44 of the infringing sites were shut down. IFPI Taiwan have
also located 53 sites in other territories containing Taiwanese repertoire.
These sites host more than 10,000 infringing files.
North America
USA: Information subpoenas are now being used by the Recording Industry of
America to address the problem of individuals who continually replace sites
after they have been required to take them down. This is part of an ongoing
effort to combat piracy.
Latin America
"Cease and Desist" letters have been sent to ISP's and site operators of the
biggest mp3 hosting sites in: Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. In Argentina 300 CD-R's
with MP3 files ready for sale were secured.
Africa
South Africa: Today an ISP has received a notification in order to disclose
the website operator's contact details.
Europe
Switzerland: 20 infringing site operators have been sent "Cease and Desist"
letters.
Italy: Warning letters sent by IFPI in Italy have closed down 535 illegal
sites so far this year. FIMI, the Italian IFPI Group, has applied for search
warrants on the basis of criminal investigations against two major
organisations involved in hosting illegal MP3 files.
Czech Republic: In the last week IFPI sent 150 warning letters to heads of
educational establishments, after which substantial amounts of pirate material
have been taken down. Legal action this year by IFPI has led to 14
prosecutions against individuals selling CD Recordable copies produced from
MP3 files downloaded from the Internet. A major ftp site hosting hundreds of
illegal MP3 files was closed down this week.
Sweden: IFPI has closed down 1,000 illegal sites and has filed for 10 criminal
prosecutions against individuals.
Austria: "Cease and Desist" letters have been sent out to identified
individuals offering illegal MP3 files on their web sites. Criminal actions
against major Austrian MP3 sites are planned.
Netherlands: A new Internet enforcement programme has been introduced :
100 sites have been closed down to date.
France: France's SCCP has launched 4 criminal actions against illegal MP3
sites this year. Seven further actions are planned by the end of the year.
United Kingdom: In the UK, over 30 illegal MP3 sites have been recently closed down, which
together hosted thousands of MP3 files. In addition, the BPI yesterday
launched a major investigation into illegal music, targeting in particular
sites offering illegal files of music where the user is encouraged to look at
the "sponsor's" material and is then shown a selection of sex sites.
Germany: The German group of IFPI closed down almost 500 illegal German websites since
the beginning of this year. During October approximately 100 websites with
more than 3,000 illegally posted-tracks have been closed down.
Denmark: IFPI has closed down some 1,000 sites in recent months. There are
also 3 internet piracy court cases pending in the High Court.
Music On The Internet - Key Facts
Independent forecasts suggest on-line sales of recorded music will increase
rapidly in the next few years, creating a market of several billion US
dollars. In the USA, sales of physical recordings ordered via the internet
are growing fast. In 1998 internet-ordered CDs more than tripled to US$132
million - just over 1% of the US recorded music market.
In 1999 international artists have increasingly experimented with sample
downloads of the music off the Internet. Others, including Eurythmics, Tina
Turner, Peter Gabriel and Alanis Morrisette have offered whole songs for
download. In September 1999 David Bowie made his album "Hours" available for
download on the Internet two weeks before the physical retail release.
The recording industry and the technology industries are building the
conditions for a thriving on-line music market through a number of
partnerships including the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI). SDMI
brings together more than 120 companies and organisations to develop an open,
interoperable architecture and specification for playing, storing and
distributing digital music.
All major multinational record companies have announced plans to deliver music
for direct download on the Internet, or are doing so already.
It is estimated that 1 million illegal music files are posted on the Internet
- yet few countries, outside the USA, have adequate legislation to fight
Internet piracy.
In the USA, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act gives strong rights and
enforcement powers for rights owners; furthermore in the US the new
Electronic Theft (Net) Act provides for legal action specifically on the
charge of Internet piracy.
In Europe, the draft EU Copyright Directive will be the key legislative tool
for fighting internet piracy. The Directive, which aims to extend copyright
protection from the physical to the Internet environment was proposed in 1997
but has yet to be adopted.
Worldwide, the legal framework for protecting artists' and record producers'
rights is the WIPO Treaties concluded in December 1996. Of the more than 100
countries which concluded the Treaties, 30 ratifications are needed for its
implementation. Currently only 10 have ratified.
IFPI is the organisation representing the international recording industry.
Its members comprise 1400 record producers and distributors in 70 countries.