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RIAA's "Making Available" Theory Is Tested

Posted by kdawson on from the cutting-more-legs-out dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA's argument that merely 'making files available' is in and of itself a copyright infringement, argued in January in Elektra v. Barker (awaiting decision), is raging again, this time in a White Plains, New York, court in Warner v. Cassin. Ms. Cassin moved to dismiss the complaint; the RIAA countered by arguing that 'making available' on a p2p file sharing network is a violation of the distribution right in 17 USC 106(3). Ms. Cassin responded, pointing out the clear language of the statute, questioning the validity of the RIAA's authorities, and arguing that the Court's acceptance of the RIAA's theory would seriously impact the Internet. The case is scheduled for a conference on September 14th, at 10 AM (PDF), at the federal courthouse, 300 Quarropas Street, White Plains, New York, in the courtroom of Judge Stephen C. Robinson. The conference is open to the public."

1 of 222 comments (clear)

  1. But wait... by burning-toast · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is the entire basis of the RIAA claims in all of these cases striking anyone else as being entirely based on "it may have been" scenarios being used as proof?

    I think that all corporations which sue individuals should have to adhere to criminal court standards instead of needing just a "whiff" of possibility. Individual vs. Individual of course would still be run as a Civil matter. They should be required to obtain warrants if they want a "Discovery" into any non-public records of the individual. IMHO, they should absolutely NOT be able to get any records from any organization whatsoever about an individual without a warrant (consider ISP's releasing IP address / account information to a corporation for a shady example).

    This is why I think copyright infringement should be up to the courts to investigate and prove or disprove as a criminal matter and NOT the plaintiff (corporations).

    There seems to be a serious disadvantage for an individual in almost ALL cases involving a company suing an individual (specifically the depth of their pocket books and ability to pay a lawyer).

    Thanks for your efforts NewYorkCountryLawyer

    - Toast

    Much of this post may be conjecture, ranting, etc. I apologize if I got OT, but I would like clarification if any of my views are out of whack, and I wouldn't mind alternate viewpoints so long as they aren't in troll fashion.

    P.S. To all grammar Nazi's; I don't really care if I missed anything when I glanced over this post. Don't waste your breath or potentially cause yourself carpal-tunnel by trying to fix it.