FAQ’s
FAQs
Why are you receiving a notice from PayArtists?
PayArtists is a company that is independent of the copyright owner, however we have been authorized by the owner (musicians, singers and songwriters or their family members) of the copyright to act as the owner’s agent to let you know of the artist’s rights with respect to music or art downloaded by you from one of the many available torrent sources on the web.
Why me?
If you’ve received a notice it is probably as a result of PayArtists’ copyright infringement identification process. You were not located or singled out by the copyright owner. Neither the copyright owner nor PayArtists was aware of anything about you before our automated system located and identified your download.
Why are the copyright holders filing these lawsuits?
The unauthorized uploading or downloading of artwork is illegal according to the Copyright Act of 1976 and international law. Uploading or downloading copyrighted content is no different than stealing from a local retail store. It’s really even more devastating to the artist themselves. We do not distribute your payments to distributors or record labels, we represent only artists who own the rights to their art.
What if I have pirated more content? Can I settle for these infringements as well?
Many people will receive settlement offers that do not include all of the content he or she illegally downloaded. This can be due to a variety of reasons. PayArtists technology may have disregarded or filtered out the other illegal downloads content at the request of one of the Artists or the copyright owner of other illegally downloaded files may not be using PayArtists.
What if I cannot pay the entire settlement amount?
For those individuals who cannot pay the entire settlement amount, PayArtists will consider offering a payment plan. Our goal is not to penalize, but to raise awareness and assist the artists we represent. Payartists typical settlement fee is $10.00, but it is possible you may have downloaded numerous songs at different times. We will work with you to make this process as painless as possible for you, the fan.
Will I need a lawyer?
As with any legal proceeding, the guidance and representation of a lawyer can be important. However, the cost incurred to retain a lawyer for less than ten minutes will exceed our settlement offer. Deciding to hire a lawyer doesnt make economic sense, but is entirely up to you.
Can I avoid this settlement if I delete the illegal content and file-sharing applications from my computer?
No. Once litigation becomes a possibility, deleting files or the file-sharing application from your computer would violate your obligation to preserve evidence.
Regardless, once you have received our notice, our evidence is sufficient.
I have downloaded my music for free for years, what’s wrong with free downloads?
By downloading music, without paying the artists and copyright holders, you are in violation of Federal copyright laws. Since the advent of peer-to-peer file sharing, beginning with Napster and MP3.com and continuing with Gnutella, eDonkey and Kazaa in 2001 through 2003, file sharing and music downloading have become commonplace. In 2001, A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. was a landmark intellectual property suit in which the US Ninth Circuit court affirmed the lower court ruling holding that Napster could be held liable for infringement of the record company’s copyrights.
On May 11, 2010 US District Judge Kimba Wood granted summary judgment in favor of the music industry’s claim that LimeWire committed and induced copyright infringement. In October of 2010, LimeWire was shut down permanently, and 13 record companies are suing them for damages that could total millions and millions of dollars.
PayArtists does not represent record labels or recording studios. We represent individual artists who have worked hard to earn their livelihood and would like to enlist your help to make things better for fans and artists.
Why settle before a suit has been filed?
The settlement amount is minimal. Your payment goes directly to the artist and is far lower than the costs of litigation. In fact our offer will cost you less than speaking with an attorney for ten minutes. Our goal is to pay the starving artists, and we represent the artists directly. We retain a portion of the fee because we provide this service to the artists, our services are free to the musicians we work with, but most of the money we collect goes to the artists we represent.
How do you know or prove I downloaded music?
There are a number of ways we determine who downloaded music belonging to artists we work with. We are able to determine when and where music was downloaded, and we deal directly with the Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) who are required to forward legal notices to their customers who are downloading music.
