It’s all fun and games until someone brings out the lawyers.

The RIAA has been attacking people who choose to use peer to peer file sharing for some time. There have been artists that have gone after file sharing programs and, in general, those who profit from music or film aren’t happy about the wide acceptance of file sharing programs and peer to peer file sharing.

Now the recording companies are kind of attacking one of their own. Four of the largest recording companies (Warner Music Group, Sony, Universal Music, and EMI Group) in the world have filed a lawsuit against the producers of the “Ellen DeGeneres Show.” Ellen’s show features segments where she (and the audience) get up and dance. The recording companies are claiming that the producers didn’t go through the proper channels to be able to use the music and that the show has been using the music without permission.

The suit claims that the show has used more than 1,000 songs from their music libraries without any permission from the companies. The companies are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.

Warner Bros (the company that puts on the Ellen show) said that it has been trying to work with the labels for some time to try to work out some kind of deal and to come to some kind of agreement as to how to use the music on her show.

I suppose that the music companies are tired of not actually getting any money from single moms and children for file sharing that they have decided to go after someone who would be able to pay the outrageous fines that are dealt out by the courts every so often.

I can’t sit here and condone illegal file sharing because I pay for a monthly subscription for DRM ridden music, but I am not a fan of the record companies and the RIAA coming after people for sharing a handful of songs.

Plus, the Ellen show has been on for YEARS now, could this not have been brought to the producer’s attention before now?

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