Legal action is the right way to go; large file-sharing uploaders cannot act like distributors and expect not to pay for the music.(Editorial)

Nobody in the music business will enjoy declaring war against uploading filesharers.

We, at Music Week, like lots of people in the music business, have consistently voiced concern about the prospect of suing consumers.

But, let's be clear. If an individual is hosting thousands of files on his or her hard-drive, ready for anyone to take and copy at their will, they are acting as a distributor. And if they want to distribute other people's copyrights--without their consent, it must be added--the least they must expect is that those who own those copyrights will demand some payment in return.

That is, in effect, all that the BPI is proposing. It is proposing to seek such "distributors" through the civil courts, for the money that is due to their members.

The BPI has clearly got its argument straight. There are no threats of jail and downloaders are not, per se, its ultimate targets.

It is certainly trying to tread a title line. Through its awareness campaign, it is attempting to scare casual transgressors--those who either do not know that file-sharing is illegal, or turn a blind eye towards that fact--into turning off their links to services such as KaZaA.

BPI executive chairman Peter Jamieson hopes that the awareness campaign will also stop the industrial uploaders in their tracks. That is undeniably a nice ...