The Impact of HADOPI on music file-sharing

HADOPI is an acronym of the French government agency “Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet”, which was created by the so-called ‘HADOPI law’ in 2009. Its main aim is to screen internet connections in France to prevent the exchange of copyrighted material without prior agreement from the copyright holders. If a copyright holder complains a copyright infringement, HADOPI may initiate a so-called ‘three-strike’ procedure: (1) an email message is sent to the alleged offender. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) is then required to monitor his/her internet connection. In addition, the alleged offender is invited to install a filter on his internet connection. (2) If, in the six months following the first step, a repeat offense is suspected the second step of the procedure is invoked: A certified letter is sent to the alleged offender with the same content as of the initial email. (3) If the offender fails to comply during the year following the reception of the certified letter, and upon accusation of repeated offenses, the third step of the procedure is invoked. (3) The ISP is required to suspend internet access for the offender for a period of from two months to one year.

HADOPI started its operations on October 1^st 2010 and a report entitled “Hadopi, 1¹/₂ Year After The Launch” on the effects of the graduated response measures since the first warning email was sent out, was published at the end of March 2012 (click here for the French version of the report). In the following I would like to sum up the results of the report from the music usage’s perspective.