Facebook: Iced Earth According to various news sources, Century Media Records have filed a lawsuit against more than 7,000 music fans for illegally downloading Lacuna Coil ‘s ‘Dark Adrenaline’ and Iced Earth ‘s ‘Dystopia.’ Since news of the lawsuit broke, discussion of the legal action has been rampant over the internet, with Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer sharing his personal views in a new statement. Although NorthJersey.com broke the news on Aug. 5, the story had only been discovered by the online metal community a few days ago. Reminiscent of the recent suit against All Shall Perish fans who illegally downloaded the band’s 2011 album, ‘This is Where it Ends,’ a total of 3,136 defendants have been targeted for illegally downloading ‘Dark Adrenaline,’ while 4,327 others are being pinned for downloading ‘Dystopia.’ Much like in the All Shall Perish case, the ‘Dystopia’ lawsuits were not brought to the band’s attention before being filed, according to a statement Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer posted via the band’s Facebook page: It has come to my attention that Century Media is suing fans over illegal downloads of (among others) our latest album,’Dystopia’. I felt it was important to clarify that we had no knowledge of this motion and were, sadly, not asked permission. We all know the music industry is changing. We have been adapting to this model by embracing legal streaming services such as Spotify and by bringing our music to places we have never played before by touring our proverbial asses off. As much as we respect that the labels are having a harder time selling music, we feel this is a misguided effort and want to make sure our fans know we would have not given our consent would we have been asked. Metal Insider recently reported that they had contacted Century Media for a statement, and although no official response has been made, an anonymous Century Media employee states that nobody at the American offices knows anything about the suit and that they are checking in with their European branch to see if they have any information. Additionally, as of this posting, no Lacuna Coil members have commented on the situation. Check out the lawsuit’s paperwork below and stay tuned for more news as the story develops. Century Media Lawsuit Paperwork Century Media Ltd v Does 1 944 No 12 Cv 3868 (DNJ)