Nettwerk backs 15 year-old against RIAA Lawsuit

The MC Lars thread continues…  here is a post from myspace to MC Lars about his track "Download this Song".

Dear Lars,

I enjoy "Download This Song" greatly. But more so it hits home. My family is one of 10 seemingly randomly chosen families to be sued by the RIAA. No fun. You can’t fight them, trying could possibly cost us millions. The line "they sue little kids downloading hit songs", basically sums a lot of the whole thing up.  Anyways, thank you for writing it. I can definitely agree with everything mentioned in it. I expresses my feelings almost exactly on this matter.

Thank’s again.

Elisa

—

Well, once in a while you have to really make a stand.  Lars contacted his manager Tom Gates at Nettwerk and forwarded the myspace post. 

Nettwerk Music Group, home to Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked
Ladies and Sum 41, decided to take on the RIAA on behalf of Elisa Greubel, a
15-year-old Texan whose father was sued by the recording industry trade
group in August 2005 for owning a computer that allegedly shared more
than 600 music files.

Among the nine songs the RIAA is focusing on in the suit, according to
Nettwerk, is management client Lavigne’s "Sk8er Boi." The RIAA is
demanding Greubel’s family pay $9,000 to settle the suit.  Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride said in a statement that legal
action is not the answer. "Suing music fans is not the solution, it’s
the problem."  McBride said he decided to weigh in because the action involves his
artists. "Litigation is not ‘artist development,’ " he said in the
statement. "Litigation is a deterrent to creativity and passion and it
is hurting the business I love. The current actions of the RIAA are not
in my artists’ best interests." Nettwerk has offered to pay all legal
fees and any fines for the family in the event that they lose the suit.

Go Terry.  Go Lars.

Read more about it here on MTV.com

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