The Recording Industry Association of America sent 50 more pre-litigation settlement letters to Ohio University yesterday as part of its third wave of lawsuits against college students, according to a news release from the trade group.
Letters from the RIAA were forwarded to students in February, when the RIAA sent 50 other form letters to OU. Each letter accuses a network user of illegally sharing copyrighted music owned by at least one of the four major U.S. record labels. In the third wave of letters announced yesterday, the RIAA sent 413 letters to 22 universities.
The RIAA has sent 1,218 pre-litigation settlement letters during its three-month campaign against illegal downloading on college campuses. OU and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are the only schools to receive letters in more than one wave of RIAA letters. Nationwide, the RIAA has sent 49 universities at least one letter, and Ohio University has received the most, a total of 100.
Each letter gives a student 20 days to decide to settle for at least $3,000 or prepare for a lawsuit.
Pre-litigation settlement letters identify network users by their Internet provider addresses. In February, all of the 50 letters were given to students. The university's information security team is responsible for dealing with copyright infringement complaints. As of March 27, the university had received 2,214 Digital Millennium Copyright Act notices from various copyright holders. Such notices do not include pre-litigation letters.
The number of notices has created a significant burden for the information security team, said Shawn Ostermann, interim chief information officer, in an interview during spring break.
There are things we're going to push back on the university and say that 'It's just not a security problem
and we can't do it anymore ' Ostermann said. Often the security team ends up taking on other responsibilities because its members are the only ones with the necessary tools, he said.
Liz Kennedy, an RIAA spokeswoman, wouldn't say if these letters referred to file sharing that occurred after the first round of letters.
The idea is that if you're engaging in this activity you could come into contact with our litigation efforts Kennedy said. We're sending out letters on a monthly basis and G? we have not set an end date.
Several university officials contacted yesterday afternoon were unaware the RIAA had mailed additional letters to the university and said they wouldn't comment until they'd heard more.
The Center for Student Legal Services will not defend students facing lawsuits from the RIAA because those cases are being filed in federal court.
Students who take the RIAA to court and lose could face hefty fines and have to pay the RIAA's legal fees, said Pat McGee, managing attorney for the center. If students win, they could be entitled to attorney's fees.
Although McGee characterized the letters as standard legal practice, he said the short decision time mandated by the RIAA and mass nature of the mailings is troubling.
It's not extortion; it's enticement
McGee said.
Terry Hogan, dean of students, said that it is important to keep in mind that the number of pre-settlement litigation letters isn't an indicator of the amount of file sharing that is occurring.
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Source:RIAA
