Record label helps family

Canadian record label Nettwerk Music Group is helping a family fight a file-sharing lawsuit from the RIAA. The label "that is home to Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies and Sum 41, is taking on the RIAA on behalf of Elisa Greubel, a 15-year-old Texan whose father was sued by the recording industry trade group in August 2005 for owning a computer that allegedly shared more than 600 music files," MTV reports. Nettwerk said it would pay all legal fees and any fines for the family if it loses, according to MTV. The RIAA is demanding that the family pay $9,000 to settle, or half that if they comply with its settlement agreement. Nettwerk gave two reasons for supporting the Greubels: 1) because a song by one of its artists, "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne, was among the nine songs named in the lawsuit and 2) because "suing music fans is not the solution, it's the problem." Later in Nettwerk's press release, CEO Terry McBride added: "Litigation is not 'artist development.' Litigation is a deterrent to creativity and passion and it is hurting the business I love." The lawyer representing the family, Charles Lee Mudd Jr. in Chicago, has defended more than 100 consumers who have been sued by the RIAA, MTV says. He said he took on the case because he feels the RIAA is misusing copyright law, which he said should be used as a shield, not a sword, and the RIAA is - in a lot of cases - going after families that don't know their children are file-sharing.