Name	Recording Industry Association of America
Size	100px
Formation	1952
Type	Technical standards, licensing and royalties
Headquarters	Washington, DC
Location	United States
Leader title	Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Leader name	Mitch Bainwol
Website	www.riaa.com

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trust that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA say "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate sound recordings produced and sold in the United States".

The RIAA was formed in 1952 primarily to administer the RIAA equalization curve, a technical standard of frequency response applied to vinyl records during manufacturing and playback. The RIAA has continued to participate in creating and administering technical standards for later systems of music recording and reproduction, including magnetic tape (including cassette tapes and digital audio tapes), CDs and software-based digital technologies.

The RIAA participates in the collective rights management of sound recording. The association is also responsible for certifying gold and platinum albums and singles in the USA.

The RIAA lists its goals as:

The RIAA represents over 1,600 member labels, which are private corporate entities such as record labels and distributors, and which collectively create and distribute about 90% of recorded music sold in the United States. The largest and most influential of the members are the "Big Four" that include:

EMI

Sony Music Entertainment

Universal Music Group

Warner Music Group

The total retail value of recordings sold by members of the RIAA is reported to be $10.4 billion at the end of 2007, reflecting a decline from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999.

Sales certification

The RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles and albums that reach US$1 million sales. The criteria was changed in 1975 to be based on the number of copies sold, with singles and albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales, and in 1999 a Diamond Award for ten million sales. The awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members.

The RIAA also operates a similar program for Spanish language music sales, called Los Premios Awards.

“Digital” sales certification

In 2004, the RIAA added a branch of certification for what it calls “digital” recordings, meaning roughly “recordings transferred to the recipient over a network” (such as those sold via the iTunes Store), and excluding other obviously-digital media such as those on CD, DAT, or MiniDiscs. In 2006, “digital ringtones” were added to this branch of certification. , the certification criteria for these recordings are as follows:

*Silver: more than 100,000 copies

Gold: more than 500,000 copies

Platinum: more than 1,000,000 copies

Multi-Platinum: more than 2,000,000 copies

Diamond: more than 10,000,000 copies

Video Longform certification

Along with albums, digital albums, and singles there is another classification of music release called "Video Longform." This release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is slightly different from other styles.

*Gold: 50,000

Platinum: 100,000

Efforts against infringement of members' copyrights

Efforts against file sharing

The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music. Studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to substantial.

The association has commenced high profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers. It has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children. It is accused of employing techniques such as peer-to-peer "decoying" and "spoofing" to combat file sharing.

As of late 2008 they have announced they will stop their lawsuits and instead are attempting to work with ISPs who will use a three strike warning system for file sharing, and upon the third strike will cut off internet service all together. However as of 2009 no major ISPs have announced they are part of the plan, and Verizon has publicly denied any involvement with this plan.

Selection of defendants

The RIAA names defendants based on ISP identification of the subscriber associated with an IP address, and as such do not know any additional information about a person before they sue. After an Internet subscriber's identity is discovered, but before an individual lawsuit is filed, the subscriber is typically offered an opportunity to settle. The standard settlement is a payment to the RIAA and an agreement not to engage in file-sharing of music and is usually on par with statutory damages of $750 per work, with the RIAA choosing the number of works it deems "reasonable". For cases that do not settle at this amount, the RIAA has gone to trial, seeking statutory damages from the jury, written into The Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 as between $750 and $30,000 per work or $750 and $150,000 per work if "willful." In the case RIAA v. Tenenbaum, the jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 per song shared by Joel Tenenbaum resulting in a judgment of $675,000 for the shared 30 tracks (this was later reduced to $67,500 by the judge) and in the case RIAA v. Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the jury awarded $80,000 per song, or $1.92 million for 24 tracks (this award was later reduced by the judge to $54,000, though the final amount of damages has yet to be determined).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Citizen oppose the ability of the RIAA and other companies to "strip Internet users of anonymity without allowing them to challenge the order in court".

The RIAA's methods of identifying individual users had, in some rare cases, led to the issuing of subpoena to a recently deceased 83-year-old woman, an elderly computer novice, and a family reportedly without any computer at all.

Settlement programs

In February, 2007 the RIAA began sending letters accusing internet users of sharing files and directing them to web site P2PLAWSUITS.COM, where they can make "discount" settlements payable by credit card. The letters go on to say that anyone not settling will have lawsuits brought against them. Typical settlements are between $3,000 and $12,000. This new strategy was formed because the RIAA's legal fees were cutting into the income from settlements. In 2008, RIAA sued nineteen-year-old Ciara Sauro for allegedly sharing ten songs online.

The RIAA also launched an 'early settlement program' directed to ISPs and to colleges and universities, urging them to pass along letters to subscribers and students offering early "settlements", prior to the disclosure of their identities. The settlement letters urged ISPs to preserve evidence for the benefit of the RIAA and invited the students and subscribers to visit an RIAA website for the purpose of entering into a "discount settlement" payable by credit card. By March 2007, the focus had shifted from ISPs to colleges and universities.

Lawsuits against other recording, distribution, and search technologies

In October 1998, the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in the Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco claiming the Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300 player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act. The Rio PMP300 was significant because it was the second portable consumer MP3 digital audio player released on the market. The three judge panel ruled in favor of Diamond, paving the way for the development of the portable digital player market.

In 2003, the RIAA sued college student developers of LAN search engines Phynd and Flatlan, describing them as "a sophisticated network designed to enable widespread music thievery".

In September 2003, the RIAA filed suit in civil court against several private individuals who had shared large numbers of files with Kazaa. Most of these suits were settled with monetary payments averaging $3,000. Kazaa publisher Sharman Networks responded with a lawsuit against the RIAA, alleging that the terms of use of the network were violated and that unauthorized client software was used in the investigation to track down the individual file sharers (such as Kazaa Lite). An effort to throw out this suit was denied in January 2004, however, that suit was settled in 2006.

RIAA has also filed suit in 2006 to enjoin digital XM Satellite Radio from enabling its subscribers from playing songs it has recorded from its satellite broadcasts. It is also suing several Internet radio stations.

On December 21, 2006, the RIAA filed a lawsuit against Russian owned and operated website AllOfMP3.com in the amount of $1.65 trillion ($1,650,000,000,000). This number was derived from multiplying 11 million songs with statutory damages of $150,000 per song. The Moscow court ruled in favor of AllOfMP3.com.

On October 12, 2007, the RIAA sued Usenet.com seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the company from "aiding, encouraging, enabling, inducing, causing, materially contributing to, or otherwise facilitating [copyright infringement]". This suit, the first that the RIAA has filed against a Usenet provider, has added another branch to the RIAA's rapidly expanding fight to curb the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials. Unlike many of the RIAA's previous lawsuits, this suit is filed against the provider of a service who has no direct means of removing infringing content. The RIAA's argument relies heavily on the fact the Usenet.com, the only defendant that has been named currently, promoted their service with slogans and phrases that strongly suggested that the service could be used to obtain free music.

On April 28, 2008, RIAA member labels sued Project Playlist, a web music search site, claiming that the majority of the sound recordings in the site's index of links are infringing. Project Playlist's website denies that any of the music is hosted on Project Playlist's own servers.

On October 26, 2010, RIAA members won a case against LimeWire, a P2P file sharing network, for illegal distribution of copyrighted works. On October 29, in retaliation, riaa.org was taken offline via denial-of-service attack executed by members of Operation Payback and Anonymous .

The "work made for hire" controversy

In 1999, Mitch Glazier, a Congressional staff attorney, inserted, without public notice or comment, substantive language into the final markup of a "technical corrections" section of copyright legislation, classifying many music recordings as "works made for hire," thereby stripping artists of their copyright interests and transferring those interests to their record labels. Shortly afterwards, Glazier was hired as Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Legislative Counsel for the RIAA, which vigorously defended the change when it came to light. The battle over the disputed provision led to the formation of the Recording Artists' Coalition, which successfully lobbied for repeal of the change.

See also

CRIA

IIPA

MPAA

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Intellectual Property trade groups

Parental Advisory

PMRC

References

External links

RIAA official website

Category:Arts and media trade groups Category:Organizations established in 1952

Caption	David Gallagher, January 2007
Birth name	David Lee Gallagher
Birth date	February 09, 1985
Birth place	Queens, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1987-present

David Lee Gallagher (born February 9, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Simon Camden on the long running television series 7th Heaven and Mikey Ubriacco in the 1993 film Look Who's Talking Now. He is also famous for voicing Riku in the Kingdom Hearts video game series.

Personal life

Gallagher was born in College Point, New York, to Elena Gallagher (née Lopez) and Darren James Gallagher. His parents separated when he was a baby and his mother remarried to Vincent Casey. Gallagher was known for playing all the newest video games. He loved video games. Gallagher is of Cuban descent on his mother's side, and Irish descent on his father's side. He has four younger half-siblings, Michelle (b. 1988), Kelly (b. 1991), Jacob (b. 1995) and Killian (b. 1997). Killian was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3; as a result David is an active supporter and spokesperson for the organization Cure Autism Now.

He graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory School (California) in 2003, and enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he majored in film and television studies, graduating in May 2007.

Career

David began acting at the age of 2, appearing in print ads in and around New York City, which eventually led to commercial work. He appeared in many television commercials as a toddler, for products such as Tyson Foods and Fisher Price. At age 8 he briefly had a recurring role on the soap opera Loving.

His film debut came in 1993 when he won the role of Mikey in the sequel Look Who's Talking Now, playing the son of John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. In 1995 he played in a production of A Christmas Carol on Broadway. He also starred in several TV movies, including Bermuda Triangle, which was intended to be turned into a TV show but was never picked up.

In 1996 he reunited with John Travolta for the movie Phenomenon. Later that year, he was cast as Simon Camden in a new family drama series 7th Heaven. His family left New York and relocated to California to be near the set. 7th Heaven went on to last 11 seasons, making it the longest-running family drama in television history, and also became the highest-rated show on The WB Network.

During his time on 7th Heaven, David became a teen idol and well known to television audiences. He shot a few movies during hiatuses from filming, including the direct-to-video Richie Rich's Christmas Wish and Little Secrets with Evan Rachel Wood. In 2003, during 7th Heaven 's 8th season, David decided to leave the show in order to attend college full-time. However, he returned to the series part-time during season 9 and for what was thought to be the 10th and final season. In late 2006 The CW unexpectedly picked up the show for an 11th season, David opted not to renew his contract, for reasons that are unknown, although it has been speculated that the cast pay cut may have been a big factor in David's absence.

In 2005 David starred in and co-produced a low-budget adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The movie screened at several Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals but was poorly received, as a result, it is unlikely it will ever receive a theatrical run or have a DVD release.

His first role after leaving 7th Heaven was a guest stint on Numb3rs, playing serial killer Buck Winters in September 2006, a role in which he reprised in January 2009. He also appeared in the season 6 opener of CSI Miami, playing another suspected killer. He also starred in the horror sequel Boogeyman 2, which went straight to DVD. In July 2008, David guest-starred on the TNT drama Saving Grace as Paul Shapiro, a troubled young man who was the suspect in a murder investigation. His next guest appearance was in an October 2008 episode of the FOX crime drama Bones as Ryan Stephenson, the son of a man who later became a woman. Then in November 2008 he appeared in an episode of the CBS hit Without a Trace as a suspect named Jeff Ellis who was thought to be responsible for the disappearance of a local nurse. He's also well-known for having voiced Riku in the Kingdom Hearts video game franchise, and for portraying Seiji Amasawa in the English dub version of Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart. He appeared on the second-to-last episode of the series The Deep End, where he played a man charged with second-degree murder although he is innocent. His character's past with drug abuse led him to be the most likely suspect.

Filmography

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Title !! Role |- | 1993 || Look Who's Talking Now || Mikey Ubriacco |- | rowspan="2"|1996 | 7th Heaven || Simon Camden |- | Phenomenon || Al |- | rowspan="2"|1997 |Walker, Texas Ranger || Chad Morgan |-"The New Adventures of Spin ang Marty"||Marty Markham | Angels in the Endzone || Kevin Harper |- | 1998 || Richie Rich's Christmas Wish || Richie Rich |- | rowspan="2"|2002 | Kingdom Hearts || Riku (voice) |- | Little Secrets || David |- | 2003 || Kart Racer || Scott McKenna |- | 2004 || || Riku (voice) |- | 2005 || The Quiet || Brian |- | rowspan="3"|2006 | Kingdom Hearts II || Riku (voice) |- | NUMB3RS || Buck Winters |- | Whisper of the Heart || Seiji Amasawa |- | 2007 || The Picture of Dorian Gray || Dorian Gray |- | rowspan="3"|2008 | Boogeyman 2 || Mark |- | Bones || Ryan Stephenson |- | || Riku (voice) |- | rowspan="2"|2009 || Smallville || Zan |- | Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days || Riku (voice) |- | rowspan="4"|2010 || Trophy Kids || Reid |- | The Deep End|| Kevin |- | Betwixt|| Bleek |- |Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep || Riku & Young Master Xehanort (voice) |}

References

External links

Category:1985 births Category:Actors from New York Category:American child actors Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:American entertainers of Cuban descent Category:American people of Cuban descent Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American people Category:American people of Irish descent Category:Living people Category:People from Queens Category:University of Southern California alumni