LEWISTON – The record industry filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court on Thursday against five unnamed Bates College students accused of Internet piracy.

The targeted students, who are known only to the school, could face penalties of $750 or higher for each song they allegedly shared on the Internet. They may also face thousands of dollars in court costs.

Some of the biggest record companies in the country – Arista, Interscope, Capital and Motown – were among the 13 plaintiffs listed in papers filed with the Portland court.

Caught in-between was Bates College.

If a judge approves, the school may be subpoenaed to produce the names of the students, who were tracked to the school by their Internet provider addresses.

For now, the school is staying quiet.

“The college has not received any formal notification of this action, and will not have a response until it does,” spokesman Bryan McNulty said in an e-mail.

The Recording Industry Association of America was eager to talk about the lawsuits, part of a nationwide initiative aimed at college and university students.

The industry cites its year-old survey that found that more than half of college students download music and movies illegally and that college students account for a disproportionate share of the overall problem.

The industry organization has issued four waves of so-called “pre-litigation letters” to schools, threatening people by giving them 20 days to either settle up or face a judge.

In the first three waves, beginning in February, 1,218 letters were sent to computer users at 58 schools.

Of those, about 500 people have settled. The rest will face lawsuits, an industry spokeswoman said.

“They are being filed on a rolling basis in district courts across the country,” said Jenni Engebretsen of the RIAA.

Bates College received the letters as part of the third wave, issued on April 11. All five were students.

“I regard this as an opportunity,” Gene Wiemers, Bates’ vice president for information and library services, said in an earlier interview. “Our job is education. I’m not walking away from our role here.”

“People think they are anonymous or that they are private on the Internet,” he added. “They are not.”

Because the names of the defendants are unknown to the RIAA, the suits are known as “John Doe” lawsuits.

The recording industry hopes to eventually connect with each targeted student. If the identities are disclosed, the defendants will be given another chance to settle.

It’ll cost more than it would have in the pre-litigation phase, the RIAA said in a prepared statement.

If the individual does not settle, the case proceeds, with record companies either amending or re-filing the original complaint to include the individual’s name.

“We have no choice but to take the problem of campus music theft seriously,” Steven Marks, executive vice president and general counsel for the RIAA, said in a prepared statement. “Our ability to invest in new bands and new music is seriously threatened by online theft – a problem that remains particularly acute on college campuses. Individuals engaged in illegal file trafficking need to understand that there are consequences for their actions.”