The Recording Industry Association of America said Friday it made successful strides last year in its campaign to combat the illegal pirating of recorded music.
The RIAA, which represents the companies that create and distribute nearly all of the recorded music sold in America, credited a stepped-up effort involving criminal proceedings and new technology that helped put a dent in pirating."The success of the RIAA's anti-piracy programs combined with the emerging technology that is altering the legitimate music marketplace are forcing pirates to find new niches for music piracy," said Steven D'Onofrio, executive vice president of the group in its 1995 year-end report.
"As a result, our anti-piracy efforts are now measured less in terms of units seized and more in terms of the success of deterrents such as civil proceedings, which provide for potentially significant financial penalties," he added.
The RIAA said two new civil suits were filed last year, one against a company that used popular recordings as audio "greeting cards" dispatched over the telephone without obtaining proper permission or paying royalties.
The other civil action was against a manufacturer and distributor of back catalog recordings who the RIAA identified as one of the biggest alleged violators in that particular music category.
Two major civil cases were concluded last year, one resulting in a judgment of $2.1 million - the largest ever in an RIAA case.
Statistically, pirated cassette units confiscated in 1995 fell to 1.1 million, the lowest amount in the last five years. The number of counterfeit or pirate compact discs reached 25,652 units last year, compared with 14,845 in 1994.
The RIAA said it made significant strides last year in combating Latin music piracy, which accounted for more than 60 percent of the group's anti-piracy actions and nearly 80 percent of actual overall product seized.
One raid in El Paso, Texas, launched in conjunction with U.S. and Mexican law enforcement agencies, netted 60,000 alleged counterfeit tapes of the late Tejano singing star Selena and led to four arrests.