With
the “six strikes” initiative on it’s way to the United States – where ISPs will
begin warning Internet users illegally sharing copyrighted material, and then
restricting their Internet access after six warnings – major labels and
publishers seem to be moving closer to what they feel will be an effective
anti-piracy campaign. However, the people over at BMG Rights Management don’t
seem to be completely satisfied and have begun seeking out settlements against
file sharers – not in court for thousands of dollars, but rather for just $20
online.
BMG
is the fourth-largest music publisher in the world (based on revenue) and is
home to artists the likes of Bruno Mars, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, John Legend,
Outcast, will.i.am, MGMT and several others. The company does not seem to
feel that the ‘education’ approach to the “six strikes” initiative is enough
for their clients and are now attempting to generate revenues from alleged file
sharers, as reported by TorrentFreak.
BMG’s
plan goes like this: Required by law, ISPs in the United States are obligated
to forward infringement notices from rightsholders to their customers. These
notices are relatively harmless and essentially act as a slap on the wrist,
informing the alleged file-sharer that they have been caught distributing
copyrighted material and must desist immediately. BMG now wants to take it a
step further by adding “evidence” to DMCA notices, which will include
hyperlinks to pages allowing supposed infringers to obtain “legal release from
the copyright holder.”
Click image to enlarge:
Image source: TorrentFreak
Once an account holder clicks on these links, they are then taken to a site operated by Digital Rights Corp and presented with details of their alleged infringement. There, they can pay a sum of 20 dollars that will “finally, unconditionally, irrevocably and absolutely releases, acquits, remises and forever discharges” them from future legal action on that particular infringement.
When
TorrentFreak first reported word of this BMG plan, they sought the council of Samuel
Perkins, a lawyer with the Brody Hardoon Perkins & Kesten law firm:
“Under
current US copyright laws, they would not be liable for copyright violations
that occurred using their Internet subscription. BMG misrepresents subscribers’
copyright liability by stating that ‘most Internet service provider contracts
state that the contract holder is responsible for actions taken on the Internet
service.’ This statement is designed to convince subscribers that they are
liable for a copyright violation if a neighbor or a family member secretly
downloads copyrighted material,” Perkins explained to TorrentFreak.
Perkins
concludes that BMG is deliberately obscuring the distinction between the
subscriber’s contract with the ISP and their liability under federal copyright
law.
“BMG’s
website attempts to trick innocent subscribers into settling copyright
infringement cases when they in fact have no liability,” he said.
BMG
could not be reached for comment and it remains to be seen if they are the only
ones seeking to generate cash from alleged file sharers in the wake of the “six
strikes” initative imminent in the United States. It will also be
interesting to see how effective BMG’s plan will be, and if these pieces of “evidence”
will simply be ignored with the same dismissive behavior that the DMCA warnings
themselves will likely encounter.
—
Hisham Dahud is a Senior Analyst for Hypebot.com. Additionally, he is the head of Business Development for Fame House and an independent musician. Follow him on Twitter: @HishamDahud
