Music industry in 8,000 new file-share lawsuits around the world
he music industry has launched a fresh wave of 8,000 lawsuits against alleged file-sharers around the world, escalating its drive to stamp out online piracy and encourage the use of legal download services. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the world’s music companies, said on Tuesday the new cases were brought in 17 countries, including the first ones ever in Brazil, Mexico and Poland.
IFPI has said some 20 billion songs were illegally downloaded worldwide last year.
The industry has now filed about 18,000 lawsuits in the United States, the largest market for music sales, and 13,000 in the rest of the world. The legal proceedings involve both criminal and civil suits and are aimed at “uploaders” — people who put copyrighted songs onto Internet file-sharing networks to offer to music fans without permission. The group added that more than 2,300 people had already settled their case for illegally file-sharing copyrighted material with an average payout of 2,420 euros ($3,034).
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