A 12-year-old girl in New York who was among the first to be sued by the record industry for sharing music over the internet is off the hook after her mother agreed Sept. 9 to pay $2,000 to settle the lawsuit, apologizing and admitting that her daughter's actions violated U.S. copyright laws.

The hurried settlement involving Brianna LaHara, an honors student, was the first announced one day after the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed 261 such lawsuits against music fans who illegally share songs online.

"We understand now that file-sharing the music was illegal," Brianna's mother, Sylvia Torres, said in a statement distributed by the recording industry. "You can be sure Brianna won't be doing it anymore."

Brianna added: "I am sorry for what I have done. I love music and don't want to hurt the artists I love."

The RIAA launched the next stage of its aggressive anti-piracy campaign Sept. 8, filing 261 federal lawsuits across the country. The action was aimed at what the RIAA described as "major offenders" who illegally distribute on average more than 1,000 copyrighted music files each, but lawyers warned they ultimately might file thousands of similar cases.

Besides Brianna, the targets of the first lawsuits included a Yale University professor and an elderly man in Texas who rarely uses his computer. Each faces potentially devastating civil penalties or settlements that could cost them tens of thousands of dollars.

The case against Brianna was a potential minefield for the music industry from a public relations standpoint. The family lives in a city housing project on New York's Upper West Side, and they said they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services.

The RIAA said this week it already had negotiated $3,000 settlements with fewer than 10 internet users who learned they might be sued after the RIAA sent copyright subpoenas to their internet providers. But lawyers negotiated those settlements before the latest round of lawsuits, and the RIAA had said any further settlements would cost defendants more than $3,000.

Even in the hours before the settlement was announced, Brianna was emerging as an example of what critics said was overzealous enforcement by the powerful music industry.

The top lawyer for Verizon Communications Inc., William Barr, charged earlier on Sept. 9 during a Senate hearing that music lawyers had resorted to a "campaign against 12-year-old girls" rather than trying to help consumers turn to legal sources for songs online. Verizon's internet subsidiary is engaged in a protracted legal fight against the RIAA over copyright subpoenas sent to Verizon customers.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also alluded to Brianna's case.

"Are you headed to junior high schools to round up the usual suspects?" Durbin asked RIAA President Cary Sherman during a Senate Judiciary hearing.