Copy of RIAA lawsuit notice for CopyRight infringement sent to College Students

The Herald Dispatch posts a copy of the RIAA P2P lawsuit letter being sent to the students. Please visit the Herald to view the original PDF copy of the lawsuit notice

February 28, 2007
Re: Notification of Copyright Infringement Claims
CASE ID#
Dear Sir/Madam:
We have asked your Internet Service Provider to forward this letter to you in advance of our filing a lawsuit against you in federal court for copyright infringement. We represent a number of large record companies, including EMI Recorded Music, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, as well as all of their subsidiaries and
affiliates (“Record Companies”), in pursuing claims of copyright infringement against individuals who have illegally uploaded and downloaded sound recordings on peer-to-peer networks.

We have gathered evidence that you have been infringing copyrights owned by the Record Companies. We are attaching to this letter a sample of the sound recordings you were found distributing via the AresWarezUS (Ares) peer-to peer
network. In total, you were found distributing 321 audio files, a substantial number of which are sound recordings controlled by the Record Companies.

The reason we are sending this letter to you in advance of filing suit is to give you the opportunity to settle these claims as early as possible. If you contact us within the next twenty (20) calendar days, we will offer to settle the claims for
a significantly reduced amount compared to what we will offer to settle them for after we file suit or compared to the judgment amount a court may enter against you. If you are interested in resolving this matter now, please contact
our Settlement Information Line at 913-234-8181 or, alternatively, you may settle this matter immediately online at http://www.p2plawsuits.com/, using the CASE ID# that appears at the top of this letter.

In deciding whether you wish to settle this matter, here are some things you should consider:
• The Copyright Act imposes a range of statutory damages for copyright infringement. The minimum damages under the law is $750 for each copyrighted recording that has been infringed (“shared”). The maximum damage award can be substantially more. In addition to damages, you may also be responsible for paying the legal fees we incur in order to pursue these claims, and are subject to having an injunction entered against you prohibiting you from further infringing activity.
• Now that you are aware that a lawsuit may be filed against you, there is an obligation for you to preserve evidence that relates to the claims against you. In this case, that means, at a minimum, the entire library of recordings that you have made available for distribution as well as any recordings you have downloaded, need to be maintained as evidence. Further, you should not attempt to delete the peer-to-peer programs from your system – though you must stop them from operating. For information on how to do this, you may visit http://www.musicunited.org/.

This is a serious matter and to the extent you have any questions, we strongly encourage you to contact us to ask those questions. Finally, if you would like more information regarding music downloading/file sharing and peer-to-peer
networks, please visit http://www.p2plawsuits.com/.

IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN TWENTY (20) CALENDAR DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS LETTER, THEN WE
WILL FILE SUIT AGAINST YOU IN FEDERAL COURT.  We are not your lawyers, nor are we giving you legal advice. We urge you to consult with an attorney immediately to advise you on your rights and responsibilities.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Kelso

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