Something I’ve been wondering for a while, and reading This GD thread has made me decide to ask.
Most songs generally sell for around a $1 (all amounts mentioned in this OP are in US dollars), yet if you get caught file sharing, you can get sued for up to $150,000 per song . If each song is only worth $1, then if you illegally share a song aren’t the record companies and the web sites that sell the songs and so on only out the $1 or so the song was worth? I mean, I can understand maybe slapping on some putative damages, but thousands of dollars per song?
If I understand correctly. It’s not that you can get in trouble for downloading the song, but for uploading it. So they aren’t suing you for the $1 they lost for your single song, but rather then 150,000 people that could have potentially uploaded if from your computer.
The amount is a punitive judgment. It’s not just that people could have downloaded it, but the amount is set to discourage people from sharing files in the future.
This thread is walking the GQ/GD line right now, but it’s still in GQ so I’ll leave my feelings out of this and ask a factual question.
If people wanted tort reform in this area of law, I assume that we would have to get Congress to pass new legislation, correct?
Actually, another factual question crossed my mind. What are the penalties in other countries? How much can you be fined if you illegally file share in the Japan or somewhere in the UK for instance?
. If each song is only worth $1, then if you illegally share a song aren’t the record companies and the web sites that sell the songs and so on only out the $1 or so the song was worth? I mean, I can understand maybe slapping on some putative damages, but thousands of dollars per song?