E.K. described that when she glanced at the notice a few weeks ago, she was scared and anxious. She said she decided to not tell her parents about it ““ she would take care of it herself.
The first-year undeclared student, who asked to only be referred to by her initials to keep her legal situation private, was looking at a pre-litigation settlement notice, one of 21 sent to UCLA students on March 21, according to a press release from the Recording Industry Association of America.
This is the second time the RIAA has sent such notices, with over 800 sent to more than 30 universities since the latest spurt of lawsuits started in early March.
PC Zai, Undergraduate Student Association Council facilities commissioner, said she is alarmed by the amount of students who have received the notices, adding that UCLA has more copyright infringement complaints than other University of California campuses. She said she plans to bring up the issue at an upcoming meeting.
“USAC should work on educating students and encourage them as much as possible of the consequences,” Zai said.
E.K., who is accused of offering over 900 songs to download, was given the opportunity to settle with the copyright infringement claims before formal legal action is taken against her.
The notice directed her to a phone number and Web site to settle, and after considering her options, she chose to settle.
The RIAA does not publicly release the average settlement, but E.K. said her proposed settlement is $3,000.
In addition to paying the settlement, students like her must agree to the terms of the settlement, which includes a clause that requires her to destroy or delete any illegally downloaded recordings and to not offer to download such material again.
During the first set of notices, university officials were unsure of whether they would forward them to the students.
Administrators agreed to comply with the RIAA’s request and distribute the notices, with a cover letter that includes contact information for Student Legal Services.
Students have 30 days to respond to notices before the RIAA takes formal legal action.
E.K. said she believes the RIAA is unfairly targeting college students because they are vulnerable.
“It’s all about money and they especially target college students because we just turned adults and we’re scared and we would do anything to get out of (a lawsuit),” she said.
Zai said she recognized how some people could see the RIAA’s actions as scare tactics, but added that students must be aware of the potential costs of downloading illegally.
“It’s really scary and a huge risk,” Zai said.
But some students will ignore the potential legal risks and continue to download frequently and others will only legally obtain material, Zai said, but the largest group she hopes to target are students who only casually or occasionally download.
“You can’t make people start or stop anything, but you can let them know the consequences,” she said.
The university has long publicized alternatives to illegal downloading through the Get Legal program, which offers different services to obtain music and movies.
E.K. said she was vaguely aware of the program, but does not know much about it.
Her opinion reflects that of many other students, and Zai agreed.
“I personally don’t think that many people have taken advantage of Get Legal,” Zai said.
The student said she plans to pay the settlement and wishes to be able to move on with her life.
“I don’t have the time and money to take it to court,” she said. “Hopefully (paying) will be the end of it.”
She said students like her understand the risks involved, but choose to do so anyway.
“People download because it’s old habit; they still take the risk even though they know it’s wrong, like underage drinking,” she said.
E.K. said she does not download anymore, but asks her friends to do it for her.