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Nettwerk Music Group To Help Family Fight RIAA Lawsuit
January 26, 2006 at 2:44 PM (PT)
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CANADIAN-based artist label and management company NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP is helping one music fan, DAVID GREUBEL, fight a P2P lawsuit filed against his family by the RIAA.
"Suing music fans is not the solution, it's the problem," stated NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP CEO TERRY MCBRIDE.
In AUGUST '05, the RIAA filed a complaint against GREUBEL for alleged file sharing. GREUBEL is accused of having 600 suspected music files on the family computer. The RIAA is targeting nine specific songs, including "Sk8er Boi" by ARISTA artist AVRIL LAVIGNE, a NETTWERK management client. The RIAA has demanded GREUBEL pay a $9,000 stipulated judgment as a penalty, though it will accept $4,500 should GREUBEL pay the amount within a specific period of time.
NETTWERK became involved in the case after 15-year-old ELISA GREUBEL contacted MC LARS -- like LAVIGNE, a NETTWERK management client -- to say that she identified with "Download This Song," a track from the artist's latest release. In an email to the LARS' website, she wrote, "My family is one of many 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. I'm not saying it is right to download but the whole lawsuit business is a tad bit outrageous."
CHICAGO-based MUDD LAW OFFICES will take on the legal battle. CHARLES LEE MUDD JR. has represented individuals subpoenaed and sued by the RIAA since the suits began in late summer 2003. NETTWERK MUSIC GROUP has agreed to pay the total expense of all legal fees as well as any fines should the family lose the case against the RIAA.
MUDD stated, "In an effort to combat the continued injustice of the RIAA's consumer lawsuits, attorneys, musicians and artist managers have joined forces to defend the interests of DAVID GREUBEL and his family in the United States District Court, Northern District of TEXAS. Together, these parties hope to demonstrate the injustice and impropriety of the RIAA Litigation Initiative."
"My family owes a huge debt of gratitude to Mr. TERRY MCBRIDE and his company and artists they represent," said DAVID GREUBEL. "Further, every music fan, every citizen owes him gratitude for his courage to stand up and say, 'This is not right!' Anyone who has been involved in the legal system knows the feeling of being forced into a position they do not believe in, simply because they did not have the resources to have their day in court. Mr. MCBRIDE has stood up, and again said, 'This is not right!' Thank God for people like him."

