Since the advent of so called ‘peer-to-peer file sharing’ systems on the Internet, it is fair to say that the illegal copying of music has exploded. Such systems, pioneered by websites such as Kazaa (which is now a ‘legitimate’ seller of music downloads), allowanyone who canrecord music digitally to send it to anyone else with the same software. Such sharing of copyrighted material is illegal in the UK under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The result of this has been a corresponding huge decline in music sales since 1999, with retail sales down by over a fifth and music industry bosses and shareholders wearing frowns.

Recently, the British Phonographic Industry went to court to compel Internet Service Providers to produce the names and addresses of known file-sharers who were subscribed to their services. They then took action against 23 of the ‘worst’ file sharers, obtaining payments of between £2,000 and £4,500 in compensation. In early June, it was announced that a further 90 people are to be prosecuted. It remains to be seen whether more actions are in the offing, but clearly anyone who has assembled a large number of digital recordings through use of peer-to-peer networks such as Grokster, Bear, WinMIx and Imesh must be at risk.

The most enthusiastic file sharers are children and some of the legal actions have come as a complete surprise to unsuspecting parents. If you receive a demand for payment of a considerable sum relating to music downloads, contact us for advice.