The RIAA v. The People: The Recording Industry's Misguided Attempt to Use the Legal System to Save Their Business Model

Abstract

When the cassette tape hit the market in the late 1970's, sales of vinyl records and eight-tracks went into a steep decline, eventually leading to their near-total demise. Compact discs were introduced in 1982, and after a slow start due to high prices, they eventually overtook cassettes as the medium of choice for music. However, neither of these events had any net effect on the sales of albums by the music industry, because the music industry kept up with the times: the sales that they lost from tapes were replaced by the sales that they gained from compact discs (CDs). With the advent of MP3 files, history tells us to expect the decline of the outdated form of digital media, i.e., CDs, and that is exactly what is beginning to happen. CD sales have plummeted in recent years, but contrary to what the recording industry would like us to think, it's not due to piracy - it is due to the music industry's failure to keep up with technology. People want their songs in MP3 format, and since the music industry is not offering it, they have to turn elsewhere to find it.

The response of the music industry, led by the RIAA,  has been to sue everyone from Napster to their own customers. Part II of this Comment will begin the process of explaining these lawsuits by providing a brief introduction into the world of MP3s and peer-to-peer file sharing, and Part III will add to that foundation by summarizing the basics of copyright law. Parts IV and V will then deal with various issues that have arisen from the mass of litigation that has taken place over the last few years because of these new technologies, and especially because of the failure of the music industry to keep up with these new technologies. Lastly, Part VI will discuss various solutions to the problems presented by the RIAA's battle against its own customers, and also offer a few feasible alternatives to the current soap opera of litigation that has pitted The RIAA v. The People.