The suits begin...and my hope for allowed minimal downloads

From the Times:

The recording industry filed hundreds of lawsuits Monday against individual music lovers whom music companies accuse of illegally downloading and sharing songs over the Internet, an industry source said.

The lawsuits, filed in federal courts around the country, had been expected as the industry becomes increasingly aggressive in cracking down on the trading of pirated music files online.

And Senator Norm Coleman has some concerns:

Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, has promised hearings on the industry's use of copyright subpoenas to track downloaders.

Coleman has expressed concerns that the campaign could ensnare innocent people, such as parents and grandparents whose children and grandchildren are using their computers to download music. He also said some downloaders themselves might not know they are breaking the law.

I look forward to hearing how these cases come out. In theory, I like the idea of suing the actual downloaders as opposed to suing Kazaa or service providers. But, I hope the cases figure some distinction between the minimal/overlooked copying that takes place when one burns a cd or makes a mix tape for a friend, and the hypothetical large scale copying of downloading a thousand full length cds.
As I've mentioned, I've got no absolute stance on this. Kazaa and file sharing should have a place ini the world. Massive downloading, though, should not be seen as a privilege (as Marci Hamilton argues in the FindLaw column I referenced on Aug. 29). A certain amount of downloading should be compared to speeding 5-over on the Interstate- I think there is a grey area where this is ok.
In some respects, (in a very broad and inaccurate sense) I think of easements created by public use of private land. If the public cuts a trail through a property owner's land, and the owner knows about this and has failed to stop the use, the public creates a right of way. My loose analogy has the public creating a similar right in minimal copying. We've made mix tapes for decades now. The record companies have not sued despite their knowledge of such practice because the copying did no real harm. Some "right of way", then, might exist for minimal copying/downloading (this argument would never hold in court- but I assert it as a conceptual tool). Still, it might be argued that a certain amount of downloading is OK.
Perhaps the courts can carve out some space allowing for small scale downloading. More likely, we'll end up with a bright-line rule against downloading because of the exponentially greater ease with which a person can obtain songs on Kazaa. Oh well.