A couple have been ordered to pay $317 after their children illegally pirated Black Keys and Owl City tracks using file-sharing service BitTorrent.

It is the sixth award handed down by the Copyright Tribunal since the three-strikes "Skynet' anti-piracy law came into force in 2011 and the first where blame for the offences has been laid at the door of children.

The action was brought by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (Rianz), which represents major record labels. It had requested a $1627 penalty, but a spokesman said it was satisfied with the tribunal's decision.

The unnamed account holders said they had twice told their "three young children" not to illegally download music after receiving two initial warnings. They believed the third offence, the pirating of Owl City track Good Times, was "a mistake".

So far all the "Skynet" awards ordered by the tribunal have been for less than $1000. In all but one case, which involved a soldier serving in Afghanistan at the time his internet account was used to pirate music, Rianz had requested four-figure sums. The penalties are not technically "fines"; the money goes to copyright owners, not the state.

In the latest case, the tribunal knocked back Rianz by imposing a much lower "deterrent" penalty than it had sought, ordering the parents to pay $20 in respect of each of the three offences. It refused Rianz's claim for compensation for the losses as a result of the pirated tracks being uploaded from the couple's computer by other pirates.

Rianz estimated those potential losses at $591, but the tribunal awarded only $6.57 in direct compensation. It ordered the couple to pay back Rianz $250 of the $275 in fees the association had to pay to issue the three infringement notices and take the case to the tribunal.

That meant its record label members came out $42 ahead.

- Stuff

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