First RIAA lawsuit heads to trial

Iria · Nov 30, 2005, 06:36 PM

Holy litigation, Batman! The National Law Journal reports that the RIAA has launched 14,800 lawsuits in the last two years in an attempt to clamp down on file swapping. But what's striking about the RIAA's tactics is that out of all 14,800 lawsuits, not a single one has gone to trial. That's about to change.

Patricia Santangelo, a divorced mother of five living in Wappingers Falls, New York, is taking her case to trial. She recently found herself the target of an RIAA lawsuit and vowed to contest it, claiming that she knows nothing about downloading music online. The RIAA, however, is quite sure that she does. As they put it in their complaint,

"Plaintiffs are informed and believe that Defendant, without the permission or consent of Plaintiffs, has used, and continues to use, an online media distribution system to download the Copyrighted Recordings, to distribute the Copyrighted Recordings to the public, and/or to make the Copyrighted Recordings available for distribution to others. In doing so, Defendant has violated Plaintiffs' exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution. Defendant's actions constitute infringement of Plaintiff's copyrights and exclusive rights under copyright."

When the lawyerspeak is stripped away, what this means is that Santangelo is accused of downloading the following fine pieces of pop music:

Lit "Happy"
Incubus "Nowhere fast"
Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life"
UB40 "Can't Help Falling in Love"
Godsmack "Whatever"
Foo Fighters "Breakout"

__________
Read More / Source: Ars Technica

daedal · Nov 30, 2005, 07:17 PM

The RIAA blooms with each suppresion. They truly are horrible, horrible human beings.
So someone who downloads a few songs then gets sued by these clowns can end up losing their car, their home and their job? Way to make America a better place, RIAA.

The rich grow richer.

>GSXR<mrbusa · Nov 30, 2005, 08:12 PM

man if they hit me then ill be about 10000000000000000000000.99 in dept.maybe they will just send me a bill like the rest of the collection agencies.later

Nov 30, 2005, 06:36 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	First RIAA lawsuit heads to trial Holy litigation, Batman! The National Law Journal reports that the RIAA has launched 14,800 lawsuits in the last two years in an attempt to clamp down on file swapping. But what's striking about the RIAA's tactics is that out of all 14,800 lawsuits, not a single one has gone to trial. That's about to change. Patricia Santangelo, a divorced mother of five living in Wappingers Falls, New York, is taking her case to trial. She recently found herself the target of an RIAA lawsuit and vowed to contest it, claiming that she knows nothing about downloading music online. The RIAA, however, is quite sure that she does. As they put it in their complaint, "Plaintiffs are informed and believe that Defendant, without the permission or consent of Plaintiffs, has used, and continues to use, an online media distribution system to download the Copyrighted Recordings, to distribute the Copyrighted Recordings to the public, and/or to make the Copyrighted Recordings available for distribution to others. In doing so, Defendant has violated Plaintiffs' exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution. Defendant's actions constitute infringement of Plaintiff's copyrights and exclusive rights under copyright." When the lawyerspeak is stripped away, what this means is that Santangelo is accused of downloading the following fine pieces of pop music: Lit "Happy" Incubus "Nowhere fast" Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life" UB40 "Can't Help Falling in Love" Godsmack "Whatever" Foo Fighters "Breakout" __________ Read More / Source: Ars Technica

Nov 30, 2005, 07:17 PM	#2
daedal Uber Coffee Drinker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gatineau, Quebec Posts: 2,250 Rep Power: 0	The RIAA blooms with each suppresion. They truly are horrible, horrible human beings. So someone who downloads a few songs then gets sued by these clowns can end up losing their car, their home and their job? Way to make America a better place, RIAA. The rich grow richer. __________________

Nov 30, 2005, 08:12 PM	#3
>GSXR<mrbusa im a FREAK Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,107 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	man if they hit me then ill be about 10000000000000000000000.99 in dept.maybe they will just send me a bill like the rest of the collection agencies.later