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SCOTUS Asked To Decide On Legal Fees In RIAA Cases

Posted by kdawson on from the old-fogerty dept.

Fogerty's ghost notes that the Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether exonerated RIAA defendants should automatically be awarded attorneys' fees. Texas resident Cliff Thompson was sued by the RIAA, which subsequently dropped its copyright infringement lawsuit after it determined that his adult daughter was the culprit. Thompson was denied attorneys' fees by the district and appeals courts and is asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on the matter. "In the petition for certiorari filed with the Supreme Court, Thompson's attorney Ted Lee lays out the RIAA's legal strategy and notes what he describes as the 'inherent unfairness' of the lawsuits... The fight between the RIAA and alleged copyright infringers is inherently unbalanced due to the vast financial resources available to the record labels. The risk-reward ratio for defendants is seriously out of kilter, and mandating that a successful defense — even if it comes from the RIAA's decision to voluntarily dismiss a case — results in the record labels picking up the tab would even things out."

3 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. Shouldnt RIAA also pay for the every letter by poeidon1 · · Score: 0, Troll

    they send for every IP address. Lets see how long does it take them to get bankrupt

    --
    They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me. -Nathaniel Lee
    1. Re:Shouldnt RIAA also pay for the every letter by explosivejared · · Score: 1, Troll

      Hmmmm... let's see. Producing crappy music, rampant file sharing and piracy, exorbitant prices for music, and the healthy and growing independent production of music couldn't bankrupt them. However, somehow stationery is going to bankrupt them? Sounds solid!

      --
      I got a catholic block.
  2. About time by Honest+Man · · Score: 1, Troll

    With the number of lawsuits the RIAA throws out, this will pressure them into not only having better evidence but 'real geeks' answering tech questions in court instead of noobs saying what their puppet master tells them.

    I look forward to a time where if the RIAA sues someone and at the last minute drops the case because they're about to lose - that they have to pay to get out of the lawsuit. In fact I'd like to a fine equal to the amount they sued for being given to the defendants if the RIAA runs from a case they start.

    If this is declined - we're going to see many more lawsuits from the RIAA because they will have free license to sue anyone without risk beyond their own legal costs.