Justice Department getting rights to sue copyright pirates

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the Protecting Intellectual Property Rights Against Theft and Expropriation (PIRATE) Act, which is one of a number of attempts to protect copyright holders against the file-sharing phenomenon.

File-sharing, where users distribute and download copyrighted music over P2P services, has been a thorn in the side of the US entertainment industry, led by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for years.

At present, federal prosecutors have power to take criminal enforcement action against file-swappers, but the standard of proof in a criminal action is high – 'beyond a reasonable doubt' as opposed to the lower requirement in a civil action of 'on the balance of probabilities'. No prosecutions have been taken so far against file-swappers.

So the entertainment industry has sought to protect itself by suing the file-swappers. The RIAA has sued 3,429 individuals already – including 482 new lawsuits in the last week.

The PIRATE Act will permit the Justice Department to bring civil actions against copyright infringers, thus reducing the pressure on the industry.

But civil rights groups are wary of the legislation. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, it is "yet another attempt to make taxpayers fund the misguided war on file-sharing, and it's moving fast."

"It would also force the American public to pay the legal bills of foreign record companies like Bertelsmann, Vivendi Universal, EMI, and Sony. Meanwhile, not a penny from the lawsuits goes to the artists," said the EFF.

But the Act is not yet in force – it has to be approved by the House of Representatives and the President first – as does another copyright-related Act, also approved by the Senate on Friday.

The Artists' Rights and Theft Prevention (ART) Act, introduced by Senators John Cornyn and Dianne Feinstein, will allow civil actions against the piracy of pre-release works and prohibit the "camcording" of motion pictures for unauthorised redistribution.

The RIAA welcomed the passing of both Acts. According to Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol:

"These Acts will provide federal prosecutors with the flexibility and discretion to bring copyright infringement cases that best correspond to the nature of the crime, and will assure that valuable works that are pirated before their public release date are protected."