p2p news / p2pnet: “Canadian music sales fell 4% last year, a drop that likely means the Canadian recording industry will initiate a fresh round of lawsuits against illegal file sharers this year,” says Canada’s Financial Post.

This implies that “rounds” of file sharing suits have already been launched against Canadians in much the same way that the Big Four record labels are in vain trying to sue American men, women and children into buying lossy, over-priced digital downloads.

This is not, however, true, although not for want of effort as Warner Music Group, EMI Group, Vivendi Universal’s Universal Music Group and Sony BMG continue with their scheme to turn Canada into another mini-America where what they say, goes.

When the Big Four tried to force Canadian ISPs to hand over the names of 29 clients said to have been, “illegally distributing hundreds if not thousands of music copyright files to millions of strangers,” Justice Konrad von Finckenstein ruled, “No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorised the reproduction of sound recordings. They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories which were accessible by other computer user(s) via a P2P service.”

He also said the labels had not:

• “Made out a prima facie case (their affidavit evidence is deficient, they have not: made a causal link between P2P pseudonyms and IP addresses and they have not made out a prima facie case of infringement),
• “Established that the ISPs are the only practical source for the identity of the P2P pseudonyms; and
• “Established that the public interest for disclosure outweighs the privacy concerns in light of the age of the data.”

Now, “CRIA president Graham Henderson said the lawsuits are necessary to stop falling sales in Canada,” says the story.

But, “You are not going to wake up tomorrow to a wave of lawsuits,” the Post has him saying, pointing out that the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America), “still needs the names of illegal file sharers to initiate the lawsuits”.

His remarks can be seen as an element in the renewal of the Big Four’s efforts to have Canada’s copyright laws re-written to suit the labels.

It remains to be seen if the new administration will be as compliant to Big Four desires as was the former Liberal government.

In the US, the Warner, EMi, Vivendi and Sony BMG are fighting a losing battle in their bizarre sue ‘em all marketing campaign.

Canada’s p2pnet and major music firm Nettwerk Music are helping two American families to take on the multi-billion-dollar corporate music industry.

p2pnet has organized the Fight Goliath campign for New York mother of five Patti Henderson, and Nettwerk Music, with stars such as Sarah McLachlan, Avri Lavigne and Dido backing it, has promised to cover legal costs for a Texas family.

“We don’t want to see Canadian parents and their children being terrorized like they are in the states and elsewhere,” says p2pnet editor Jon Newton and, “Suing music fans isn’t the solution, it’s the problem,” says Nettwerk boss Terry McBride.

Also See:
Financial Post - Drop in music sales signals that lawsuits are likely, March 2, 2006
No evidence - Keep on downloading! Cdn file sharers told , March 31, 2004
being terrorized - RIAA targets Santangelo’s kids, February 16, 2006
it’s the problem - p2pnet talks to Nettwerk Music, February 14, 2006

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