The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of its member companies, announced a new round of copyright infringement lawsuits against 750 individuals.
The ?John Doe? lawsuits filed in the 28th of February cite individuals for
illegally distributing copyrighted music on the Internet via unauthorized
peer-to-peer services such as LimeWire and Kazaa. In addition to the new ?John
Doe? litigations, the major music companies filed lawsuits earlier this month
against 210 named defendants in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan,
New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
?For legal online services to continue to break new ground, we must do our part to
protect the integrity of the marketplace,? said Cary Sherman, President, RIAA.
?Just as we continue to educate fans about the right ways to enjoy music online,
we will continue to enforce our rights through the legal system. Songlifting is
not without consequences.?
Specifically, lawsuits with named defendants were filed in: Phoenix and Tucson,
Arizona; Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Ana, California; Atlanta and
Newnan, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Ann Arbor, Bay City, and Detroit, Michigan;
Trenton, New Jersey; Brooklyn, Central Islip, New York, and White Plains, New
York; Allentown and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Dallas,
Fort Worth, Galveston, Houston, Laredo, McAllen, San Antonio, Victoria, and Waco,
Texas; Alexandria, Newport News, Norfolk, and Richmond, Virginia; Seattle,
Washington; and Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.