RIAA's "Making Available" Theory Is Tested

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."

Comments

Re:As much as i hate the RIAA....

[timmarhy]

your right, that's a pretty BIG stretch, so my logic still stands i think. If that was the case and you could show you actually owned a purchased copy of ALL the mp3's on your hard drive the RIAA probably would bail out on the legal proceedings. they aren't nearly as stupid as you think

I wonder if a disclaimer to the effect that you must own a copy of said recordings to download them would hold up

Re:As much as i hate the RIAA....

[timmarhy]

well, i'd agree if you came to the kid and ASKED for a candy cane for the purpose of stabbing someone to death. using stupid examples isn't really going to prove your point.

Fact is if i own a cd and share it over the internet without the copyright holders permission, i'd be breaking the law. it's pretty cut and dry chaps.

I fail to see how the /. crowd can cry so foul of this given the way you all react when there's a report of a GPL violation. it's no different. just because you dislike the copyright holder, doesn't mean they are wrong.