Finn Ordered To Pay Alanis Morissette For Swapping Bootlegs On Net

[JackSpratts]

first of it's kind - js.

HELSINKI (AFP) - A Finnish court ordered a 24-year-old man to pay Canadian rock star Alanis Morissette 7,000 euros (8,965 dollars) for spreading unauthorized recordings of her concerts on the Internet.

The judge found that during 1999 to 2003, the man had swapped over 1,900 copies of unauthorized concert recordings, so-called bootleg tapings, with other bootleggers through his private website, news agency FNB reported. The case was the first of its kind in Finland, and legal experts said the ruling might be the first in Europe where someone who swapped illegal recordings to add to his own collection had been found guilty. Legal action in Europe has so far been limited to prosecuting people who have tried to make money off the trend. While the man offered illegal recordings of a number of artists, including Eric Clapton, The Cure, Madonna, HIM and Ozzy Osbourne, he had been swapping no less than seven tapings of Morissette's concerts with others, the court found. As a result, the Tampere district court, some 170 kilometers north (100 miles) of Helsinki, ordered him to pay a total of 17,000 euros (21,756 dollars) in damages for copyright infringement to various artists and organizations. He was only fined 408 euros (522 dollars) however, as he had not engaged in the online bootleg swapping for profit but rather as a hobby, and had not made the illegal recordings himself, FNB said. On the website, the man posted lists of which bootleg recordings he wanted and what he had to offer in return, as well as his detailed contact information.
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