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RIAA's $222k Verdict Is Likely To Be Set Aside
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Apparently the RIAA's 'big gun' didn't fare so well this morning in Duluth, when he tried to persuade the judge in Capitol v. Thomas that the part of the Copyright Act which says 'by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending', can be disregarded. According to an in-person account by Wired.com the Judge indicated that he is likely to grant a mistrial, setting aside the $222,000 jury verdict based upon his incorrect jury instruction, and that he will probably hand down his decision in September. Just yesterday some of the same lawyers got rebuffed by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in their attempt to argue that Cablevision's online storage for its customers constitutes a copyright infringement, in Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings. There, too, the content owners had argued that the wording of the Copyright Act did not mean what it said. There, too, the Court politely but firmly disagreed."
You missed the point. The problem for the RIAA is that when they downloaded the files, they were authorized to download the files (as representatives of the copyright holders) and thus, because this was an authorized download it does not provide evidence of a copyright violation. It's really a catch-22 situation for the copyright holders.
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
The part that bugs me is where Toder (defense lawyer) says that the plaintiff can't introduce evidence of the investigators downloading files from the defendant. According to TFA:
I don't think that's going to stand up. Undercover cops buy drugs and the state doesn't have to prosecute them for buying them. Why couldn't investigators "illegally" download copyrighted material and still have it considered infringing on the part of the defendant, but not be prosecuted?...
The reason undercover cops arent charged is because they are officers of the law, and are thus believed to be pursuing the upholding of the law. See entrapement as it relates to undercover cops "selling" illegal drugs. Since the RIAA "Investigators", many of whom are not even licensed, they are not officers of the law, and thus should not face the same privilege. For similar reasons, setting up your own drug sting operation to help cleanup your neighborhood by trying to sell oregano will probably get you thrown in jail instead of any "customers" you might catch. The defense is arguing that if the investigators are not liable for downloading the content illegally, then the content must be authorized by the RIAA. In this case, its like they sent their own "Johns" out on the street to find prostitutes, and then rather than turning over their own Johns after the deed is done, only turn over the prostitutes, all while not being official law enforcement agents. They are overstepping their rights and should not be afforded the privilege they have assumed.
Tm
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I don't think that's going to stand up. Undercover cops buy drugs and the state doesn't have to prosecute them for buying them. Why couldn't investigators "illegally" download copyrighted material and still have it considered infringing on the part of the defendant, but not be prosecuted?
Sharing music is not inherently illegal. Copyright violation only exists when a copy is made without authorization of the copyright owner or some special circumstances (fair use, media shifting, etc.). If a copyright owner or their agent transfers a song, no violation has occurred. Contrast with a drug deal which is always against the law.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I don't think that's going to stand up. Undercover cops buy drugs and the state doesn't have to prosecute them for buying them. Why couldn't investigators "illegally" download copyrighted material and still have it considered infringing on the part of the defendant, but not be prosecuted?
Because the criminal requirements are that if someone believes they are committing a crime, then they are. If there is a buy for drugs and it's flour, it's still a crime. If someone shoots into a trunk they previously locked someone in with the intent of killing them, it could be tried as attempted murder even if the person was moved from the trunk and was in no actual harm. However, civil cases are different. Most require that you get actual damage. If someone tries to break a contract and believes they did break a contract, they still aren't guilty of breaking it unless there is some harm to the other side. You can't sue someone if they didn't harm you.
If he "makes available" something, but no copies were made, then there was no loss. If he makes something available and the only person that makes the "illegal" copy is the copyright owner or their agent, then there was no loss. Without a loss, there can be no civil case.
Not defending the RIAA, but just pointing out something that seems illogical to me.
You have pointed out another reason why they are pressing hard for making all infringements, including incidental non-commercial infringement into crimes, rather than simply "illegal" (but requiring civil actions). There is a different set of rules for civil suits (not to mention the cost of prosecution) and they favor the RIAA if these are all criminalized.
Learn to love Alaska
since she was found to have used the same username for her file sharing app as she did for email and other websites, I think anyone who thinks she wasn't guilty of filesharing is being silly
I guess you're not familiar with the facts. There was ZERO evidence that she had used the "file sharing app". There was evidence that(a) her computer had been malfunctioning, and (b) someone had used a "file sharing app", and (c) that someone had used defendant's frequent user name. The techie from Best Buy testified that the computer was irretrievably corrupted and infected. I.e., all of the facts were completely consistent with a 'zombie' situation.
Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful