The RIAA sees the face of evil, and it's a 12-year-old girl

The Register ^ | 09/09/2003 at 13:54 GMT | Ashlee Vance in Chicago

[jgrubbs]

The RIAA has nailed one of the most prolific file-traders in the U.S., filing a lawsuit against 12-year-old Brianna LaHara.

When not at the playground with her friends, "Biggie Brianna" is trading music files from her home in New York. The little girl received one of the 261 lawsuits filed by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) on Monday, according to the New York Post. She may look like a sweet and innocent child, but the RIAA says it's only going after major copyright violators at the moment. So you make the call.

"I got really scared. My stomach is all turning," Brianna told the Post. "I thought it was OK to download music because my mom paid a service fee for it. Out of all people, why did they pick me?"

It turns out that Brianna's mum paid a $29.99 service charge to KaZaA for the company's music service. Brianna, however, thought this meant she could download songs at will. How naive!

When reporters charged into Brianna's home, she was helping her brother with some homework. She is an honors student at St. Gregory the Great school.

Brianna could face charges of up to $150,000 per infringed song. but we have a feeling this might be a tad unrealistic. We suggest the RIAA take all of her toys instead.

"Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to litigation," RIAA president Cary Sherman said in a statement. "But when your product is being regularly stolen, there comes a time when you have to take appropriate action."

Go get her, Cary.

[VRWCmember]

I'll bet she develops a new respect for property rights after this.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Did a Brit write this article?

[Paul C. Jesup]

The RIAA sees the face of evil, and it's a 12-year-old girl

It is just me or does anyone else think that the members of the RIAA saw the movie 'The Omen Part IV' one too many times?

[MindBender26]

Steal music at 12 - Steal ? at 22.

[Physicist]

Did a Brit write this article?

Either that, or Brianna's bills were paid by a chrysanthemum.

[rwfromkansas]

probably the opposite...Britney Spears has no property rights according to the founders.

[cdefreese]

From the article I take it that through the $29.99 her 'mum' paid, she thought she was respecting property rights.

[rwfromkansas]

BTW, Kazaa has a 30 buck fee? Huh?

[TomServo]

It seems to me the author of this story is trying to paint the thieves as "victims" of "corporate greed".

[Protagoras]

I guess you didn't read the article.

[tdadams]

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Send her to the slammer!

[rwfromkansas]

An innocent 12-year-old having the door knocked down by RIAA thugs is newsworthy for its uniquenss element.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Going after children make you look bad no matter how right YOU THINK YOU ARE.

[SamAdams76]

You mean there's a $29.99 fee for Kazaa? I've been using them for two years now and haven't paid a cent. Damn. I hope they don't backbill me.

[chachacha]

The RIAA and the entire recording industry has been stealing from musicians for decades. Try getting some facts from the musicians instead of the recording industry.

BEEN THEIR DONE THAT!

[chachacha]

there

[SamAdams76]

I bet he's not a paid subscriber to The Register either. Damn freeloader!

[VRWCmember]

Yes, I read the sarcastic article that poked fun at the RIAA because one of the thieves it is suing happens to be a 12-year-old girl.

While she may not have thought she was doing anything wrong since mummy paid a $29.95 fee so she should reasonably be able to take hundreds of dollars worth of music for free, she probably now has a better understanding of the concept of taking something without paying for it. I would expect that in the future she will be much more aware of property rights and will make sure that she pays for the things she uses or takes. (That is, unless enough people make excuses for her that she learns all she has to do is play the "victim" card and she can get away with stealing if she wants to.)

[Stingray51]

To use Al Gore's formulation, is there any "controlling legal authority" that the not-for-profit exchange of music files is theft rather than fair use? If so, could one of you please provide me with the name of the case (and court / date) that says that. Thanks.