From Napster to LimeWire, How the RIAA Tried to Stop the Internet (and Lost)
Before Spotify, before Apple Music, before streaming made music instant — there was chaos. And this documentary-style breakdown, “The People Who Were Sued for Downloading Music,” dives deep into the wild early 2000s war between record labels and regular fans who just wanted free MP3s.
The video explores the full timeline of the RIAA vs digital music, from the analog paranoia of the 1980s to the Napster explosion and the infamous lawsuits that followed. At one point, the industry’s scorched-earth approach saw grandmothers, college students, and even kids hit with six-figure lawsuits — all for downloading a few songs.
💬 “The goal wasn’t justice — it was fear.”
Creator Bandsplaining (yes, the same one who admits to mispronouncing Dido with humility and humor) delivers the story with equal parts wit and insight. Using clean editing, archival footage, and clever commentary, the video lays out how corporate panic met internet culture — and how the results shaped the future of music forever.
By the mid-2000s, over 30,000 individuals had been sued by the Recording Industry Association of America. The most infamous cases, including Jammie Thomas-Rasset and Joel Tenenbaum, became legal horror stories — ordinary people charged hundreds of thousands of dollars for sharing a handful of songs. Even judges later called the outcomes “monstrous and shocking.”
But through it all, the internet evolved faster than the lawsuits. As peer-to-peer platforms like LimeWire, Kazaa, and FrostWire multiplied, the RIAA couldn’t keep up. Ironically, the crackdown ended up accelerating the push toward streaming, subscription models, and the end of music ownership as we knew it.
💬 “You can’t sue the future — and the music industry learned that the hard way.”
With nostalgic B-roll, dry humor, and just the right touch of music-nerd commentary, the documentary doesn’t just revisit history — it explains why the music world today looks the way it does. From piracy to playlists, every click traces back to that chaotic decade when downloading an MP3 could change your life.
🎥 Watch Now: The People Who Were Sued for Downloading Music
📺 Channel: Bandsplaining
🐦 Twitter: @bandsplaining
🎵 Music by: Engine Summer – “Bandsplaining Theme”
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