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TO: Press/For Immediate Release DATELINE: Washington, December 22, 1997 SUBJECT: RIAA SUES COMMERCIAL CD PLANT FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT SUMMARY: The Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group representing U.S. record companies, today filed a civil suit on behalf of its member companies against Americ Disc, one of the country's largest commercial CD manufacturing plants located in Salida, CA. According to the trade group, an extraordinary volume of unauthorized CDs -- mostly seized by law enforcement in raids around the country -- have been traced back to Americ Disc. The suit claims that Americ Disc knew, or recklessly disregarded the fact that, many orders it accepted for pressing were pirate discs. Americ Disc and its parent company, Disque Americ (a Canadian CD replication company located in Quebec) are being charged under U.S. and Canadian copyright laws. "The law is clearly behind us," said the RIAA's Anti-Piracy Director, Steve D'Onofrio. "U.S. copyright law provides for strict liability. If you press an infringing disc, you're liable. It's just that simple." The RIAA is asking the court for a permanent injunction and monetary damages to compensate members for the extensive infringements that have occurred. Based on the 75 titles in the current complaint, the RIAA is seeking a judgement of more than $7 million. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Several of Americ Disc's customers, or the ultimate distributors of the CDs, already have been prosecuted criminally. The RIAA's Director of Civil Litigation and lead attorney on the case, Steve Fabrizio, said, "Apart from seeking redress for blatant infringements, the purpose of this action is too encourage Americ Disc and other CD plants to adopt common sense business practices to help the recording industry dramatically reduce CD piracy. If pressing plants fail to implement effective safeguards, the RIAA is committed to pursuing a campaign of litigation. The cost of accepting illicit business has just gone up." Based on its ongoing investigation, the RIAA has discovered that many CD plants are overlooking obvious signs of possible infringing material. These red flags include: customers presenting compilation CDs containing the work of top artists, who are clearly signed on an exclusive basis with major record companies; customers, wanting to pay in cash or refusing to provide an address or phone number; customers placing small orders involving major artists on a rush turnaround basis or requesting orders without printing on the discs; and customers asking for false or misleading information to be printed on the discs. "Americ Disc should have had in place business practices that would have prevented these massive infringements from occurring," said D'Onofrio. "Whether they like it or not, commercial CD replication facilities are in the rights clearance business. They cannot profit handsomely from the music industry while burying their heads in the sand when it comes to determining legitimate ownership." The RIAA's CD Awareness Program materials outlines two simple rules for CD plant managers: Know your customers, and demand proof -- and verify -- that your customers have legitimate authority to manufacture and distribute the sound recordings they are asking you to press. Despite the association's efforts to work with plants around the country to recognize illicit orders, the growing competition between plants has opened the door for pirates. "CD piracy in the United States is on the rise," D'Onofrio said. "And much of what is being pressed here is spilling over the border and flooding the Latin American markets." The RIAA filed the suit on behalf of A&M Records Inc, Arista Records, Inc., Atlantic Recording Corporation, the RCA Record Label, Capitol Records Inc., Elektra Entertainment Group, Geffen Records, Inc., Interscope Records, Island Records, Inc., LaFace Records, MCA Records, Inc., Mercury Records, Motown Record Company, L.P. Polydor Records, Qwest Records, Sire Records, Inc., Sony Music Entertainment Inc., Warner Bros. Records Inc., Universal Records, Inc., and Zomba Recording Corporation. The Recording Industry Association of America represents companies that create, manufacture or distribute more than 90% of the legitimate sound recordings sold in the United States. The RIAA's Anti-Piracy Unit investigates the illegal production and distribution of pirated sound recordings, which cost the U.S. music industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year domestically.
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