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Setback For RIAA In Sweeping Lawsuits

Posted by timothy on from the automation-will-do-wonders dept.

pvt_medic writes "In a set back for the RIAA, last Friday a judge ruled that they have to file lawsuits individually. The judge's decision was that for each John Doe that the RIAA wanted identified they would have to file an individual lawsuit."

8 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. Abolish the copyright laws for digital media by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's important that we all do our part to ensure the defeat of the RIAA and the old Luddite network distribution system of manual labor.

    I encourage everyone to use a P2P network like gnutelliums to share and distribute as much music and video as you can. If we all saturate the Internet with everything we have, the RIAA will eventually realize the futility of their ways and give up.

    Good artists will always get paid as society will always find a way to fund what it likes. The best musicians always performed for the love of medium, not for the money. Mozart, Charlie Parker, The Beatles, etc. would have had no problem making money on today's Internet. It's the mediocre artists who rely on hype and false advertising that keep the current system alive. The best musicians will always be recorded and compensated.

    1. Re:Abolish the copyright laws for digital media by jeffkjo1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I question why it is you think its acceptable to pay what you do for a cd, but also acceptable to pay the same amount or marginally more for a film on DVD.

      The movie comes loaded with extras (typically), and is also 2 hours long, compared to albums, which average 45-50 minutes long.
      Also, whats the production cost on an average movie up to today? I read that Michael Jackson's last album was.... god... I think 7 mill. Most albums cost 10 times less than that to produce.

      Yet Movies, which cost far more, side by side, with the benefits of a cd to a dvd weighed, DVD's are less expensive.

      I just don't get it.

  2. No Reverse class action? by k4_pacific · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So class action suits don't work in reverse. A class can sue an entity, but not the other way around. That's likely a good thing.

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    Unknown host pong.
  3. Now we just need.... by azuroff · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...a court to rule that they have to file a separate lawsuit for each and every infringing song...

    1. Re:Now we just need.... by ReaperOfSouls · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ...a court to rule that they have to file a separate lawsuit for each and every infringing song...

      I know its a pipe dream, but you might be able to make the legal case that the RIAA has no right to sue due to the fact that they own no copyrights and only the indivigual companies do. That would at least break it down to songs per record company. It would also make it so that the RC would have to come out from hiding behind the RIAA.

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      Shameless self promotion : The Misadvetures of the in
    2. Re:Now we just need.... by ReaperOfSouls · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Like I said it was a pipe dream...:-)

      So who is the plaintif? Is it the RIAA or the record company? If it is the RIAA, they cannot claim damages since as you and I noted they have no intelectual property to misappropiate. Or is the RIAA effectively acting as a law firm in these cases?

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      Shameless self promotion : The Misadvetures of the in
  4. Re:Congress may be for sale... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And it certainly looks like Congress was bought when it comes to the DMCA. According to opensecrets the top contributors in the entertainment industry spent between 20 and 30 million dollars to ensure passage of the DMCA.

    And the politicians in Congress have the audacity to tell us we are breaking the law when they have sold themselves out under nothing short of legalized bribery.

  5. Once the RIAA is exposed... by pdcryan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...for the illegal price fixing cartel that it is, under the Sherman Antitrust Act (and others) - the courts will be able to get back to more important things - like locking up the rest of the Food Network's goons.

    All kidding aside - I'd like to see someone pin the RIAA as a "state actor" - and make them respect our first and fourteenth amendment rights.

    "Good for you son. If there is one thing America needs, it's more lawyers. "

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    Ryan Kennedy opposes comm