In an effort that will surely save the recording industry, international behemoth metal label Century Media Records (home to Andrew W.K., Nachtmystium, Twilight, Iced Earth, Napalm Death, Lacuna Coil, In Flames, and more) has filed lawsuits in New Jersey against approximately 7,500 people for allegedly illegally sharing music.

The John Doe defendants (identified only by IP addresses) are being sued for allegedly sharing the Lacuna Coil album Dark Adrenaline and the Iced Earth album Dystopia on BitTorrent. If the court allows it, the personal information of the defendants will be offered up by internet service providers.

Century Media’s lawyer Jay R. McDaniel states, “This kills the little producer and it has an extremely destructive effect on the entertainment industry. Frankly, record sales don’t drive the music business anymore; touring does. So illegal sharing of music on the Internet has killed an entire industry.”

However, as NorthJersey.com points out, in an earlier court decision, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown wrote, “The plaintiffs seemingly have no interest in actually litigating the cases, but rather simply have used the court and its subpoena powers to obtain sufficient information to shake down the John Does.” (info via NorthJersey.com, NME, P4k)