The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a
trade organization
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association partic ...
that represents the
music recording industry in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States".
RIAA is headquartered in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
RIAA was formed in 1952. Its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the
RIAA equalization
RIAA equalization is a specification for the recording and playback of phonograph records, established by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The purposes of the equalization are to permit greater recording times (by decreasi ...
curve, the format of the stereophonic record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3, 45, and 78 rpm records.
RIAA says its current mission includes:
#to protect
intellectual property rights
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
and the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
rights of artists
#to perform research about the music industry
#to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations, and policies
Between 2001 and 2020 RIAA spent between $2.4 million and $6.5 million annually on
lobbying
In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agency, regulatory agencie ...
in the United States. RIAA also participates in the
collective rights management
Collective rights management is the licensing of copyright and related rights by organisations acting on behalf of rights owners. Collective management organisations (CMOs), sometimes also referred to as collecting societies, typically represent ...
of sound recordings, and it is responsible for
certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in the United States.
Company structure and sales
Mitch Glazier has been the RIAA's chairman and CEO since 2019. Glazier joined the RIAA 20 years ago and has played a role in the music industry's transition to streaming and "anywhere, anytime" access to music. He was the RIAA's senior executive vice president from 2011 to 2019 and served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011.
The 26-member board of directors is composed of these record executives:
*
Mitch Glazier
Mitch Glazier (born 1966) is an American lawyer and lobbyist. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Education and career
Glazier received a B.S. in social policy from Northwestern University in 1987 a ...
(Recording Industry Association of America)
*Michele Ballantyne (Recording Industry Association of America)
*
Michele Anthony
Michele Anthony is an American entertainment executive and the Executive Vice President of Universal Music Group.
Career 1990-2012: Sony Music and 7H Entertainment
Anthony first worked as a partner of the Beverly Hills entertainment law firm, Rose ...
(Universal Music Group)
*Glen Barros (Exceleration Music)
*
Michael L. Nash (Universal Music Group)
*Eric Berman (Universal Music Group)
*David Bither (
Nonesuch Records
Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly called Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Non ...
)
*Ken Bunt (
Disney Music Group
Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...
)
*
John Esposito
John Louis Esposito (born May 19, 1940) is an Italian-American academic, professor of Middle Eastern and religious studies, and scholar of Islamic studies, who serves as Professor of Religion, International Affairs, and Islamic Studies at Geor ...
(
Warner Music Nashville
Warner Music Group's labels include the following.
Flagship labels
* Atlantic Records
* Elektra Records
*Parlophone Records
*Warner Records
Atlantic Records Group
* 1st & 15th Entertainment
* All Money In
* Artist Partners Group
* Asylum Re ...
)
*Victor Gonzalez (Universal Music Latin Entertainment)
*Camille Hackney (Atlantic Records)
*Rani Hancock (Sire Records)
*Jeff Harleston (Universal Music Group)
*Terry Hemmings (Provident Music Group/Sony Music Entertainment)
*Kevin Kelleher (Sony Music Entertainment)
*Sheldra Khahaifa (Sony Music Entertainment)
*Dennis Kooker (Sony Music Entertainment)
*Eric Chopra (Sony Music Entertainment)
*Annie Lee (Interscope Geffen A&M)
*Gabriela Maartinez (Warner Music Latina)
*Deirdre McDonald (Sony Music Entertainment)
*Paul Robinson (Warner Music Group)
*
Tom Silverman
Tom Silverman is an American entertainment executive. He is most notable for founding the pioneering hip-hop and electro-funk music label, Tommy Boy Records, now known as Tommy Boy Entertainment.
Early life and education
Silverman grew up in Whi ...
(
Tommy Boy Entertainment
Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digital U ...
)
*Julie Swidler (Sony Music Entertainment)
*
Will Tanous
William Lloyd Tanous (born in Paris, France) is a Lebanese-American music industry executive. In 2013, he was appointed Executive Vice President Head of Global Communications for Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company.
In 2021, ...
(Universal Music Group)
*Zena White (Partisan Records)
The RIAA represents over 1,600 member labels, which are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and collectively create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the United States. The largest and most influential of the members are the "Big Three":
*
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
*
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
*
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
Within the major three music groups, it represents high-profile record labels such as Atlantic, Capitol, RCA, Warner Bros., Columbia, and Motown.
The RIAA reports that total retail value of recordings sold by their members was $10.4 billion at the end of 2007, a decline from $14.6 billion in 1999. Estimated retail revenues from recorded music in the United States grew 11.4% in 2016 to $7.7 billion.
Sales certification
The RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The award was launched in 1958;
originally, the requirement for a Gold single was one million units sold and a Gold album represented $1 million in sales (at wholesale value, around a third of the list price).
In 1975, the additional requirement of 500,000 units sold was added for Gold albums.
Reflecting growth in record sales, the Platinum award was added in 1976, for albums able to sell one million units, while singles qualify upon selling two million units.
The Multi-Platinum award was introduced in 1984, signifying multiple Platinum levels of albums and singles. In 1989, the sales thresholds for singles were reduced to 500,000 for Gold and 1,000,000 for Platinum, reflecting a decrease in sales of singles. In 1992, RIAA began counting each disc in a multi-disc set as one unit toward certification. Reflecting additional growth in music sales, the Diamond award was instituted in 1999 for albums or singles selling ten million units.
Because of these changes in criteria, the sales level associated with a particular award depends on when the award was made.
Since 2000,
the RIAA also operates a similar program for
Latin music
Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Music of Spain, Spain and Portuguese music, Portugal) ...
sales, called ''Los Premios de Oro y De Platino''. Currently, a "Disco De Oro" (Gold) is awarded for 30,000 units, and a "Disco De Platino" is awarded for 60,000 units. Further, the "Album Multi-Platino" honor is awarded at 120,000, and "Diamante" requires 10 times as many units as "Platino" (600,000).
The RIAA defines "Latin music" as a type of release with 51% or more of its content recorded in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
.
"Digital" single certification
![Martha Roby and Miranda Lambert](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Martha_Roby_and_Miranda_Lambert.jpg)
In 2004, the RIAA added a branch of certification for what it calls "digital" recordings, essentially referring to "recordings transferred to the recipient over a network" (such as those sold via the
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
) yet excluding other obviously digital media such as those on
CD,
DAT, or
MiniDisc
MiniDisc (MD) is an erasable magneto-optical disc-based data storage format offering a capacity of 60, 74, and later, 80 minutes of digitized audio.
Sony announced the MiniDisc in September 1992 and released it in November of that year fo ...
. In 2006, "digital ringtones" were added to this branch of certification. Starting in 2013, streaming from audio and video streaming services such as
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
,
Napster
Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...
,
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
and the likes also began to be counted towards the certification, using the formula of 100 streams being the equivalent of one download; thus, RIAA certification for singles no longer reflects actual sales. In the same year, the RIAA introduced the Latin Digital Award for digital recordings in Spanish.
[ , the certification criteria for these recordings are:
Digital awards:
*Gold: 500,000 units
*Platinum: 1,000,000 units
*Multi-Platinum: 2,000,000 units (increments of 1,000,000 thereafter)
*Diamond: 10,000,000 units
The units are defined as:
# A permanent digital download counts as 1 unit
# 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams count as 1 unit
Latin digital awards:
*Disco de Oro (Gold): 30,000 copies
*Disco de Platino (Platinum): 60,000 copies
*Disco de Multi-Platino (Multi-Platinum): 120,000 copies
]
Album certification
In February 2016, RIAA updated its certification criteria for album-level awards to combine streaming and track sales using the formula for album-equivalent unit
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...
.
*Gold: 500,000 units
*Platinum: 1,000,000 units
*Multi-Platinum: 2,000,000 units (increments of 1,000,000 thereafter)
*Diamond: 10,000,000 units
For certification purposes, each unit may be one of:
# sale of a digital album or physical album
# 10 track downloads from the album
# 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album
Video longform certification
Along with albums, digital albums, and singles, another classification of music release is called "video longform". This release format includes DVD and VHS releases. Further, certain live albums and compilation albums are counted. The certification criteria are slightly different from other styles.
*Gold: 50,000 copies
*Platinum: 100,000 copies
*Multi-Platinum: 200,000 copies
Efforts against alleged infringement of members' copyrights
Efforts against file sharing
RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its members' music. Studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to moderate.
The association has commenced high-profile lawsuits against file-sharing service providers. Likewise, it has sued individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students, parents of file-sharing children and at least one dead person. It is accused of employing techniques such as peer-to-peer "decoying" and " spoofing" to combat file sharing.
In late 2008, they announced they would stop their lawsuits, and instead attempt to work with ISPs to persuade them to use a three-strike system for file sharing involving issuing two warnings and then cutting off Internet service after the third strike.
Selection of defendants
RIAA names defendants based on ISP identification of the subscriber associated with an IP address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
, and as such do not know any additional information about a person before they sue. After an Internet subscriber's identity is discovered, but before an individual lawsuit is filed, the subscriber is typically offered an opportunity to settle. The standard settlement is a payment to RIAA and an agreement not to engage in file sharing of music. Such suits are also usually on par with statutory damages of $750 per work, with the RIAA choosing the number of works it deems "reasonable". For cases that do not settle at this amount, the RIAA has gone to trial, seeking statutory damages from the jury, written into The as between $750 and $30,000 per work or $750 and $150,000 per work if "willful".
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
and Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, progressive consumer rights advocacy group and think tank based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas.
Lobbying efforts
Public Citizen advocates before all three branches of the Unit ...
oppose the ability of RIAA and other companies to "strip Internet users of anonymity without allowing them to challenge the order in court". Importantly, US Courts have declared that an IP address is not a person nor personal identifier. This weakened RIAA's ability to sue individuals.
RIAA's methods of identifying individual users had, in some rare cases, led to the issuing of subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
s to persons dead or otherwise incapable of file-sharing. Two such examples include: a then-recently deceased 83-year-old woman an elderly computer novice, and a family reportedly without any computer at all.
Settlement programs
In February 2007, RIAA began sending letters accusing Internet users of sharing files and directing them to web site P2PLAWSUITS.COM, where they can make "discount" settlements payable by credit card. The letters go on to say that anyone not settling will have lawsuits brought against them. Typical settlements are between $3,000 and $12,000. This new strategy was formed because the RIAA's legal fees were cutting into the income from settlements. In 2008, RIAA sued 19-year-old Ciara Sauro for allegedly sharing 10 songs online.
RIAA also launched an "early settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
*Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fina ...
program" directed to ISPs and to colleges and universities, urging them to pass along letters to subscribers and students offering early settlements, prior to the disclosure of their identities. The settlement letters urged ISPs to preserve evidence for the benefit of the RIAA and invited the students and subscribers to visit an RIAA website for the purpose of entering into a "discount settlement" payable by credit card. By March 2007, the focus had shifted from ISPs to colleges and universities.
In October 1998, RIAA filed a lawsuit in the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
claiming the Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is an American company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackSta ...
Rio PMP300
The Rio PMP300 is one of the first portable consumer MP3 digital audio players, and the first commercially successful one. Produced by Diamond Multimedia, it was introduced September 15, 1998 as the first in the "Rio" series of digital audio pla ...
player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act
The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 (AHRA) amended the United States copyright law by adding Chapter 10, "Digital Audio Recording Devices and Media". The act enabled the release of recordable digital formats such as Sony and Philips' Digital Audi ...
. The Rio PMP300 was significant because it was the second portable consumer MP3 digital audio player released on the market. The three-judge panel ruled in favor of Diamond, paving the way for the development of the portable digital player market.
In 2003, RIAA sued college student developers of LAN search engines Phynd Phynd (Find) is a LAN-indexing search engine used to facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing over a local-area network
A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, schoo ...
and Flatlan, describing them as "a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery".
In September 2003, RIAA filed suit in civil court against several private individuals who had shared large numbers of files with Kazaa. Most of these suits were settled with monetary payments averaging $3,000. Kazaa publisher Sharman Networks responded with a lawsuit against RIAA, alleging that the terms of use of the network were violated and that unauthorized client software was used in the investigation to track down the individual file sharers (such as Kazaa Lite). An effort to throw out this suit was denied in January 2004, but that suit was settled in 2006. Sharman Networks agreed to a global settlement of litigation brought against it by the Motion Picture Association of America, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 19 ...
, and by RIAA. The creators of the popular Kazaa file-sharing network would pay $115 million to RIAA, plus unspecified future amounts to MPAA and the software industry; and, they would install filters on its networks to prevent users from sharing copyrighted works on its network.
RIAA also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable television. Its s ...
from enabling its subscribers from playing songs they had recorded from its satellite broadcasts. It is also suing several Internet radio stations. Later, XM was forced to impose an industry fee upon subscribers. The fee still exists and has always been paid, in-full, directly to RIAA.
On October 12, 2007, RIAA sued Usenet.com seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the company from "aiding, encouraging, enabling, inducing, causing, materially contributing to, or otherwise facilitating" copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
. This suit, the first that RIAA has filed against a Usenet provider, has added another branch to RIAA's rapidly expanding fight to curb the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials. Unlike many of RIAA's previous lawsuits, this suit was filed against the provider of a service. Providers have no direct means of removing infringing content. RIAA's argument relies heavily on the fact the Usenet.com, the only defendant that had been named, promoted their service with slogans and phrases that strongly suggested that the service could be used to obtain free music.
On April 28, 2008, RIAA member labels sued Project Playlist, a web music search site, claiming that most of the sound recordings in the site's index of links are infringing. Project Playlist's website denies that any of the music is hosted on Project Playlist's own servers.
On June 30, 2009, RIAA prevailed in its fight against Usenet.com, in a decision, that the U.S. District Judge Harold Baer of the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of the music industry on all its main arguments: that Usenet.com was guilty of direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement. In addition, and perhaps most importantly for future cases, Baer said that Usenet.com cannot claim protection under the Sony Betamax decision. That ruling states that companies cannot be held liable for contributory infringement if the device they create is "capable of significant noninfringing uses". Furthermore, the parties had appealed to a federal court for damage assessments and awards, which could amount to several millions of dollars for the music industry.
On October 26, 2010, RIAA members won a case against LimeWire, a P2P file-sharing network, for illegal distribution of copyrighted works. On October 29, in retaliation, riaa.org was taken offline via denial-of-service attacks
In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connec ...
executed by members of Operation Payback
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
and Anonymous
Anonymous may refer to:
* Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown
** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author
* Anonym ...
.
Advocacy
RIAA filed briefs in ''Allen v. Cooper
The Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (CRCA) is a United States copyright law that attempted to abrogate sovereign immunity of states for copyright infringement. The CRCA amended 17 USC 511(a):
Unconstitutionality
The CRCA has been struck ...
'', which was decided in 2020. The Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
abrogated the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act
The Copyright Remedy Clarification Act (CRCA) is a United States copyright law that attempted to abrogate sovereign immunity of states for copyright infringement. The CRCA amended 17 USC 511(a):
Unconstitutionality
The CRCA has been struck ...
as unconstitutional, while RIAA had argued the opposite view.
The "work made for hire" controversy
In 1999, Mitch Glazier, a Congressional staff attorney, inserted, without public notice or comment, substantive language into the final markup of a "technical corrections" section of copyright legislation, classifying many music recordings as " works made for hire", thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels. Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light. The battle over the disputed provision led to the formation of the Recording Artists' Coalition The Recording Artists' Coalition (RAC) is an American music industry organization that represents recording artists, and attempts to defend their rights and interests. Compare and contrast with the RIAA, which represents the recording industry. I ...
, which successfully lobbied for repeal of the change.
GitHub and youtube-dl takedown request
On October 23, 2020, the code repository
In version control systems, a repository is a data structure that stores metadata for a set of files or directory structure. Depending on whether the version control system in use is distributed, like Git or Mercurial, or centralized, like Subver ...
hosting service GitHub
GitHub, Inc. () is an Internet hosting service for software development and version control using Git. It provides the distributed version control of Git plus access control, bug tracking, software feature requests, task management, continuous ...
(owned by Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
) released a DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or s ...
request from RIAA. This request listed the open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
software project youtube-dl
youtube-dl is a free and open source download manager for video and audio from YouTube and over 1,000 other video hosting websites. It is released under the Unlicense software license.
As of September 2021, youtube-dl is one of the most starred ...
(and forks
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
of the project) as copyright violation
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, su ...
s. The request cited the United States law Title 17 U.S.C. §1201. Critics of this action say that the software library
In computer science, a library is a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often for software development. These may include configuration data, documentation, help data, message templates, pre-written code and subr ...
can be used by archivists to download videos of social injustice. According to Parker Higgins, former Director of Copyright Activism at the Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
(EFF), this takedown request was a "throwback threat" analogous to the DeCSS
DeCSS is one of the first free computer programs capable of decrypting content on a commercially produced DVD video disc. Before the release of DeCSS, open source operating systems (such as Berkeley Software Distribution, BSD and Linux) could n ...
controversy.
NFT takedown requests
On February 4, 2022, Mitch Glazier swiftly took action against NFT
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
scam site HitPiece. The site had allegedly stole music to mint as NFTs, and host them on their site. Since then, HitPiece has only responded with "We Started The Conversation And We’re Listening." However, their site has not been updated since.
Criticism
RIAA is heavily criticized for both policy and for their method of suing individuals for copyright infringement. Particularly strong critic-advocates are Internet-based, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet ci ...
and Students for Free Culture
Students for Free Culture, formerly known as FreeCulture.org, is an international student organization working to promote free culture ideals, such as cultural participation and access to information. It was inspired by the work of former Stanfo ...
. To date, RIAA has sued more than 20,000 people in the United States suspected of distributing copyrighted works. Of these, approximately 2,500 were settled pre-trial. Brad Templeton
Brad Templeton (born June 1960 near Toronto) is a Canadian software developer, internet entrepreneur, online community pioneer, publisher of news, comedy, science fiction and e-books, writer, photographer, civil rights advocate, futurist, public s ...
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation has called these types of lawsuits spamigation Spamigation is mass litigation conducted to intimidate large numbers of people.[intimidate
Intimidation is to "make timid or make fearful"; or to induce fear. This includes intentional behaviors of forcing another person to experience general discomfort such as humiliation, embarrassment, inferiority, limited freedom, etc and the victi ...](_blank)
people.
Executive leadership of RIAA
*Goddard Lieberson
Goddard Lieberson (April 5, 1911 – May 29, 1977) was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971, and again from 1973 to 1975. He became president of the Recording Industry Association of America in 1964. He was also a composer, and ...
1964–1972 (president)
*Stanley Gortikov 1972 - 1987 (president)
*Jay Berman 1988-1998 (president and chair)
*Hilary Rosen
Hilary Rosen (born 1958) is the former head of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She was a columnist for ''The Washington Post'', became the first Washington editor-at-large and political director of ''The Huffington Post'', ...
1998–2001 (president)
*Mitch Bainwol
Mitchell Burt Bainwol (born March 2, 1959) is an American lobbyist. He served as Chief Government Relations Officer of Ford Motor Company from 2019 to 2021 and president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers from 2011 to 2019. Before ...
2003-2011 (chairman and CEO)
*Cary Sherman
Cary Sherman is the former Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, an organization representing the nation’s major music labels. The trade group’s member companies are responsible for creating, manufacturing, or di ...
2011–2019 (chairman and CEO)
*Mitch Glazier
Mitch Glazier (born 1966) is an American lawyer and lobbyist. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Education and career
Glazier received a B.S. in social policy from Northwestern University in 1987 a ...
, 2019–present (chairman and CEO)
See also
* Center for Copyright Information
The Center for Copyright Information (CCI) is an American organization focused on advocacy and initiatives in support of copyright law. The CCI aims to educate the public about copyright law; coordinates with copyright owners and Internet service ...
* Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
* Global music industry market share data
The world's largest recorded music markets are listed annually by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The ranking is based on retail value (rather than units) each market generates respectively per year; retail value ...
* International Intellectual Property Alliance
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), formed in 1984, is a private sector coalition of seven trade associations representing U.S. companies that produce copyright-protected material, including computer software, films, television ...
* Music Canada
Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...
* Parental Advisory
Advisory (abbreviated PAL) is a warning label introduced by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1985 and adopted by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2011. It is placed on audio recordings in recognition of profan ...
* Strategic lawsuit against public participation
Strategic lawsuits against public participation (also known as SLAPP suits or intimidation lawsuits), or strategic litigation against public participation, are lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with t ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Recording Industry Association Of America
Trade associations based in the United States
Organizations established in 1952
1952 establishments in the United States