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Indie Label Takes 7463 Fans To Court For File Sharing

image from www.hypebot.comIndependent metal label Century Media has filed lawsuits in U.S. courts that target thousands of fans of two popular indie metal acts for using BitTorrent to share music online. Century Media made headlines last year when it pulled and then reinstated its catalog on Spotify and other music streaming sites.

"The income streams to the artists are affected massively and therefore that accelerates the downward spiral, which eventually will lead to artists not being able to record music the way it should be recorded," Century declared when pulling their track from Spotify. "Ultimately, in some cases, it will completely kill a lot of smaller bands that are already struggling to make ends meet.

Two of the new lawsuits filed on behalf of Century Media in U.S. District Court in Newark,NJ seek to stop the file-sharing of “Dark Adrenaline”  by the Italian band Lacuna Coil, according to NorthJersey.com. The lawsuits target 3,136 unnamed Doe defendants. Four more lawsuits target another 4,327 Jone Doe file-sharers for “Dystopia,” a 2011 album by Iced Earth;

 

Bruce Houghton on 09/19/2012 in Uncategorized | Permalink | Comments (6)
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  1. As an Indie artist I hope that they win. It’s one thing sharing something with a friend or relative because I see this as promotion that could increase an artist’s fan base. However, mass free distributions like this hurts artists. I think the survival of Indie artists is important to our world culturally. Indie music gives us a social window as well as an artistic window to the world.

  4. I disagree. P2P is also a form of promotion for indie artists. It’s the same as sharing a CD with a friend (which is also illegal, by the way) but the only difference is it’s on a much larger scale. You have more people listening and a greater chance for new fans to now buy your music. In most cases, mass free distribution like torrents don’t hurt indie artists since people really haven’t heard of them anyway. (Unless you’re Adele). Even if people downloading your music don’t buy it afterwards, it’s not loss of sales because they had no idea who you were and that you’re even there before they downloaded it. Although, the fact that so many people feel entitled to free music all the time is alarming. I completely agree with your last two sentences. I love indie music. However, the problem lies with obscurity and the fact that the majority of music industry is still controlled by the major labels.
    What I don’t understand about Century Media is that they were so against Spotify for the same reason they’re suing fans for illegally uploading and downloading (money). Studies have shown if an artist and their music is not on Spotify, people are more likely to pirate it. Pick your digital poison but suing fans is not the answer.
    It’s interesting to note that Iced Earth issued a statement saying they disagree with their label’s actions and were not even aware or asked about it. http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=84635

  5. the label should have offered to settle the claim if each so-called offenders bought the cd,record or cassette,.. justice by “Profit”… that way every one is happy and no lawyers need be involved, plus maybe you created some new FANS !,…joseph Nicoletti Consulting-Promotion Ph 949-715-7036 e-mail: musicbiz@cox.net

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