Santa bringeth the music player...

..and RIAA taketh away the music. Apparently, suing teenagers and single moms wasn't quite the PR coup they hoped for, because now RIAA is finding all sorts of creative new ways to occupy themselves.

In one of their lawsuits, Atlantic vs. Howell, they are suing because they claim mp3 files ripped from a defendant's own CDs were "unauthorized". That right. According the RIAA, if you copy that CD you just legally purchased onto your computer or player, you are breaking the law. In a previous trial, a Sony BMG legal beagle claims that making copies of music you own for your own personal use is "stealing.: ...When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song. Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy' Ray Beckerman, a New York lawyer who represents six clients who have been sued by the RIAA says: "The basic principle in the law is that you have to distribute actual physical copies to be guilty of violating copyright. But recently, the industry has been going around saying that even a personal copy on your computer is a violation." How much is that violation worth? Well, according to one trial, that will cost you $9,250 per song. You can read more on this here and here On a lighter note, if you want a great laugh, check out the fake news clip distributed by RIAA. I thought this comment on the clip was hilarious. "Look for compilations that could only exist in the dreams of a music fan." Remember, according to RIAA, if a CD actually has good music, it must be pirated.