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Posted by Robert
Rap News Network
9/30/2003 11:16:15 PM
Tags and topics realted to this article include LL Cool J.
Rapper LL Cool J joined entertainment executives Tuesday in defending the music industry's lawsuits against hundreds of Internet users who illegally distribute music online.
"My question is, if a contractor builds a building, should people be allowed to move into the building for free?" the rapper, dressed in a black suit with an earring glistening in his right lobe, asked senators. "That's how I feel if I record a song or make a movie, and it zooms around the world for free."
Another rapper, Chuck D, founder of Public Enemy, testified at the Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee hearing that people ought to be able to distribute the songs they want to hear on peer-to-peer Internet services, known as P2P.
"P2P to me means power to the people," said Chuck D. "I trust the consumer more than I trust the people at the helm of these (record) companies."
"LL's a staunch American," Chuck D added in a brief interview. "He's my man and all, man, but when you solely have an American state of mind, you're increasingly becoming a smaller part of the world."
The music industry's trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America, has filed 261 lawsuits against people it accuses of illegally distributing music online. The RIAA blames lagging CD sales on the downloading of music.
The subcommittee chairman, Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman, called the hearing to look into whether the recording industry's tactics were too heavy-handed.
"As a former prosecutor, I am troubled by a strategy that uses the law to threaten people into submission," said Coleman, a former roadie for the '60s rock group Ten Years After. Coleman referred to the rappers as "Mr. Cool J" and "Mr. D."
The RIAA's chairman and CEO, Mitch Bainwol, announced Tuesday that the group will send notification letters to encourage settlements before it files lawsuits.
On Monday, the RIAA said it had settled 52 of the 261 lawsuits. Defense lawyers familiar with some cases said payments ranged generally from $2,500 to $7,500, with at least one settlement for as much as $10,000.
One woman who settled her case told the subcommittee she was horrified when she learned that the RIAA had sued her and that federal law set penalties at $750 to $150,000 per song.
"I thought my life was over, and that I'd have to file for bankruptcy," said Lorraine Sullivan, a 28-year-old student at Hunter College in New York.
The RIAA agreed to settle her case for $2,500; Sullivan raised $600 from a web site she created, http://www.suedbytheriaa.com.
"I resent being unfairly targeted and having to choose between paying a settlement I can barely afford or to deal with the worry and stress of litigation with the possible outcome of being held personally responsible for a couple of hundred thousand or millions of dollars in damages," said Sullivan.
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