Industry News

Student ordered to pay for illegal downloading

Joel Tenenbaum, a student who admitted illegally sharing 30 songs online, has been ordered to pay a fine of $675,000 (£400,000). A jury decided that the 25-year-old should pay $22,500 (£13,370) per song to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), to be distributed between the record labels whose copyright had been infringed.

Tenenbaum's reaction was mixed, as he had been anticipating a fine of up to $4.5m. He said the result of the trial "sends a message of 'We considered your side with some legitimacy ... $4.5m would have been, 'We don't buy it at all'."
There was suggestion from Tenenbaum's lawyer, Charles Nesson, that the verdict would be appealed. The RIAA released the following statement: "We appreciate that Mr Tenenbaum finally acknowledged that artists and music companies deserve to be paid for their work. From the beginning, that's what this case has been all about. We only wish he had done so sooner rather than lie about his illegal behaviour."

Tenebaum was first approached by the RIAA in 2003, when the music industry body wrote to him asking for $5,250 in compensation for seven songs he had illegally shared on the P2P site Kazaa. He was among roughly 30-40,000 people fined, but only one of a handful to contest the fine. Shortly before the trial, the RIAA increased the number of songs he was being sued for from seven to 30.

Earlier this year, Jammie Thomas Rasset was found guilty of illegally sharing 24 songs via Kazaa. She was ordered to pay a total of $1.92m, or $80,000 per song. Tenenbaum, only the second person to be found guilty of illegal filesharing in the US, had reportedly said he would file for bankruptcy if the verdict stands.
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Mariah's 'Memoirs' CD to include mini-magazine with ads

As music sales continue to drop like they're not so hot throughout the industry, Island Def Jam Music Group is jamming on a new business model: integrating brands into artists' CD booklets.

The first deal, created for the Mariah Carey release Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel on Sept. 15, is a 34-page co-production with Elle magazine that includes lifestyle ads from Elizabeth Arden, Angel Champagne, Carmen Steffens, Le Métier de Beauté and the Bahamas Board of Tourism. Providing the experiment goes well, the label is eyeing bigger brand deals for booklets of CDs by Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Kanye West and other artists.

The mini magazine contains Mariah-centric editorial ("VIP Access to Her Sexy Love Life," "Amazing Closet," "Recording Rituals") and lifestyle advertising along with lyrics and other CD booklet elements. Elle contributed the editorial and designed the layout.

The booklets were created for the first run of U.S. CDs (1 million) and the first 500,000 overseas, said Jeff Straughn, svp-strategic marketing for Island Def Jam Music Group. It will also be available in a digital format for those who buy music online.
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