We were called last week by a local radio station asking about the story of an action by the BPI against the mother of a 14 year old girl who was alleged to have been downloading music illegally. This was part of the BPI's wider campaign to clamp down on music piracy on P2P networks, and has coincided with the publication by the BPI of Online Music Piracy: The UK Record Industry's Response. This confirms that the BPI's actions are based on infringement of the copyright owner's right to copy, and the new right to communicate to the public "by electronic transmission in such a way that members of the public may access it from a place and at a time individually chosen by them" (introduced by the Copyright Regulations).
None of the BPI's actions have yet reached the courts, with the majority of those sued choosing to reach a settlement, which is probably an indicator of the strength of the BPI's claims. The ploy appears to be working: following a recent survey, there are predictions that legal downloads will outnumber illegal downloads within the next six to twelve months.
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