UK record industry takes first five file-sharers to court

Five alleged file-sharers will now face record companies in court after failing to reach a settlement over accusations of illegal uploading.

The three men and two women are accused of uploading nearly 9,000 tracks between them to file-sharing networks and have been unable to settle with music industry trade body the BPI (British Phonographic Industry). The BPI has now filed civil proceedings against the five individuals and will be seeing them in court.

The BPI has said it will be suing the individuals for costs and compensation for the income they claim has been lost to the music industry as a result of the uploaders' actions.

The BPI has sought settlements with more than 90 alleged uploaders, more than 60 of whom have opted to pay compensation averaging thousands of pounds to the trade body.

International record industry organisation the IFPI reported recently that the number of tracks made available for upload illegally has grown by three per cent in the first half of this year.

Legal music, however, has grown by more than 300 per cent in the four main music markets over the same period.

A spokesman for the BPI said the organisation is pleased with how the campaign of pursuing illegal uploaders is going: "We believe the campaign is working and the results are encouraging. We can't just sit back and ignore the problem."