Actions Taken by U.S. Music Community to Step Up Public Education Efforts in Just the Past Twelve Months

August, 2002 – The RIAA publicizes a survey by Peter D. Hart research finding that by a more than a two-to-one margin, music consumers who say they are downloading more music for free off the Internet also say they are purchasing less music.

September 26, 2002 – An unprecedented alliance of musicians, songwriters, music organizations, and record companies – dubbed the MUSIC Coalition – launches an aggressive education campaign aimed at combating the illegal distribution of copyrighted music over the Internet.

September-November 2002 – The coalition launches a web site (www.musicunited.org) containing information about the impact of online piracy and how to download music legally. It also initiates an online public education campaign with significant support from AOL and publishes full-page ads in major newspapers asking, “Who Really Cares About Illegal Downloading?” The ads answer the question with a diverse list of nearly 90 major recording artists and songwriters, including such superstars as Eminem, Madonna, the Dixie Chicks, Missy Elliott, Elton John, Sting, Phil Collins, Luciano Pavarotti, Brian Wilson, and Natalie Cole. At the same time, the coalition releases a series of video spots that air on MTV, BET and other major cable outlets, in which multi-platinum artists reach out to fans with the message that downloading music illegally is, as Britney Spears explains in one of them, “the same thing as going into a CD store and stealing the CD.” In the weeks after the campaign’s launch, dozens more artists sign onto the campaign, including the nation’s leading country musicians who add their own voices in separate advertisements and television spots for leading country music outlets.

October 10, 2002 – In a letter to more than 2,300 college and university presidents, members of the creative content industries — including the RIAA, the Motion Picture Association of America, the Songwriters Guild of America, and the National Music Publishers’ Association — explain how serious the problem of peer-to-peer piracy is on America’s campuses and what school officials can do to help solve it.

October 24, 2002 – Members of the creative content industries send a similar letter to CEOs at every company on the Fortune 1000 list, briefing America's top business leaders on the problem of peer-to-peer piracy and warning them about illegal activity that may be taking place on their own corporate computer networks.

December, 2002 – The entertainment industry and higher education community join to create the Joint Committee of the Higher Education and Entertainment Communities to address the increasing use of university servers for copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks.

February 13, 2003 – The motion picture and recording industries continue their corporate education efforts by distributing an anti-piracy brochure to the Fortune 1000 companies. Entitled “A Corporate Policy Guide to Copyright Use and Security on the Internet,” it outlines ways U.S. companies can help prevent copyright abuse on their computers and networks.

February 28, 2003 – The RIAA announces that despite the introduction of a wide variety of new business strategies by U.S. music companies, CD shipments and sales declined in 2002 for the second year in a row -- largely as a result of “the ongoing problem of online and physical music piracy.”

April 3, 2003 – The RIAA files well-publicized lawsuits against four students who operate mini-Napster networks that illegally offer literally millions of music files for free on their colleges’ computer systems. The four students quickly take down their networks -- as do students running similar illegal networks on many other campuses across the country.

April 29, 2003 – The recording industry begins sending millions of educational Instant Messages to Kazaa and Grokster users, informing them that distributing or downloading copyrighted music on peer-to-peer networks is illegal -- and that “When you break the law, you risk legal penalties.”

June 25, 2003 – The recording industry announces it will begin collecting evidence and preparing lawsuits against members of peer-to-peer networks who distribute copyrighted music without permission over the Internet.

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The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies. Its members are the music labels that comprise the most vibrant record industry in the world. RIAA® members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate recorded music produced and sold in the United States.

In support of this mission, the RIAA works to protect the intellectual property and First Amendment rights of artists and music labels; conduct consumer, industry and technical research; and monitor and review state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA® also certifies Gold®, Platinum®, Multi- Platinum™ and Diamond sales awards as well as Los Premios De Oro y Platino™, an award celebrating Latin music sales.