At some point, publishers just might decide to take the path the music industry took.  One woman has been fined $1.9 million for uploading copyrighted music onto a filesharing site.

Could be bad news for pirates, because this verdict probably set a precedent.  Yahoo’s article quoted:

“They now have a verdict they can use in other cases around America,” Port said of the recording industry. “The prices that they will charge for settling is going to go up.”

I can’t remember where I read it, (read several articles on this) but I think I even read there was no need to even prove anybody had downloaded the songs she shared.  Just by uploading them, she violated copyright laws.

Music is copyrighted. So are books.  Gee, some pirates still think they can’t really get in trouble.  She probably thought so, too.

For the record, I think the $1.9 million is excessive.  I’d hate to see somebody’s life ruined over a few songs (or books).  But if you break the law, if you violate copyright laws, if you steal, you run the risk of getting in trouble.