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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Music
piracy suits hitting home
By Patrick Danner
The Miami Herald.com
11-9-04
When he bought his 10-year-old a computer, Antonio
Morrell was just trying to help the boy get ahead in
school. Now the Miami construction worker is being
sued by the music industry, which has brought its battle
against Internet piracy to South Florida for the first
time.
More than a dozen record companies have sued 30 South
Florida residents, accusing them of illegally downloading
music and making it available for others to copy.
Some of those named in the lawsuits told The Herald
the record companies have offered to settle for about
$4,000 each.
Morrell said he never downloaded any songs. Yet he's
named in a lawsuit, he said, because his son, Alessandro
-- who was 10 when his father bought him a computer
two years ago -- downloaded about 1,000 songs and opened
the door for others to copy them.
''I don't see how I could be paying somebody $4,000
for something I didn't do,'' Morrell said. ``I bought
the computer for schoolwork. I'm sure he didn't know
he was doing anything illegal.''
Morrell said he separated from his wife over a year
ago and wasn't around to monitor his son's computer
activity.
`TOTALLY SHOCKED'
Emorine Ebanks of Pembroke Pines was similarly surprised.
She said her 15-year-old son, Chad, downloaded more
than 600 songs. Now her husband, Howard, is facing
a lawsuit filed by Virgin Records America, Warner Bros.
Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and three other
recording companies.
''We were totally shocked,'' Emorine Ebanks said.
``We didn't know downloading music was illegal.''
Morrell and Howard Ebanks are among 6,200 people across
the country who have been accused of illegally downloading
and sharing music since September 2003, according to
Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry
Association of America, a trade group based in Washington.
When computer users download a copyrighted song, file-sharing
software automatically makes it available for other
Internet users to download, too.
About 1,260 of the individuals have settled, Lamy
added. Published reports have put the average settlement
at about $3,000.
The local copyright-infringement lawsuits were filed
last month in U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Florida. They don't seek specific dollar
amounts in damages.
The South Florida suits were filed by Karen Stetson
of Miami's Broad and Cassel law firm. She referred
a call to Lamy.
The parents facing suits have an obligation
to know what goes on at home, particularly if they
are arranging for Internet access, said Roy Oppenheim,
a Weston lawyer specializing in intellectual property.
But he considers the suits heavy-handed because they
were slow to introduce services allowing music to be
legally downloaded.
''I never appreciate Goliath beating up David,''
Oppenheim said. ``The fact that they were sleeping
at the switch wasn't the public's fault.''
AN OPEN DIGITAL DOOR
Not every defendant is a parent. Aurelie Bredent,
a 23-year-old student at Florida International University,
said she has agreed to pay $4,500 to settle her lawsuit.
Among the songs that put Bredent in the cross hairs
of record companies: LL Cool J's Phenomenon, Santana's
Do You Like the Way, and Sade's Smooth Operator.
Bredent said her mistake was not in downloading the
music but rather in allowing others access to the songs
through file-sharing software.
''Basically, my computer was open to the world,''
she said.
Record companies obtained the names of alleged offenders
by filing lawsuits against ''John Does,'' then filing
subpoenas against Internet service providers to obtain
names.
The record companies sent those people settlement
offers. The lawsuits were filed after recipients failed
to respond to the letters or refused to settle.
That's what happened in Ebanks' case. She said her
family ignored the letter, figuring it was a scam.
The family has removed the music files from their
computer, she said.
#
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About Oppenheim Pilelsky:
Oppenheim is a partner in the firm, along with
his wife Ellen Pilelsky. Oppenheim Pilelsky, the oldest
law firm in Weston, is a general practice concentrating
in real estate, litigation and consumer related matters.
The law firm of Oppenheim & Pilelsky is located
at: 1290 Weston Road, Suite 300, Weston, FL 33326 (954)
384-6114 or 1-888-384-6114. Oppenheim Pilelsky can
also be found at www.oppenheimlaw.com
For more information contact: Christine Manna or
Julie Silver at Boardroom Communications, 954-370-8999.
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