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Duke Demands Proof of Infringement From RIAA

Posted by Soulskill on from the bluff-called dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "According to a report at p2pnet, Duke University has told the RIAA that it will no longer forward the RIAA's 'early settlement' letters to its students unless the RIAA submits 'evidence that someone actually downloaded from that student,' and said that 'if the RIAA can't prove that actual illegal behavior occurred, then we're not going to comply.' While it is good news that a university is requiring the RIAA to put up or shut up, the forwarding — or not forwarding — of letters is pretty insignificant. What I want to know is this: 'When the RIAA comes knocking with its Star Chamber, ex parte, 'John Doe' litigation to get the students' identities, is the University going to go to bat for the students and fight the litigation on the ground that it's based on zero evidence, and on the ground that the students weren't given prior notice and an opportunity to be heard?' Over 1,000 infringement notices were sent to Duke students in the last year."

4 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. Too late.... by chefmayhem · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now, if only Duke could retroactively do this. I know one of the people at Duke who got bullied into paying the RIAA money last year. Being an international student, he felt he couldn't risk having a lawsuit on his record, so he paid a few thousand dollars, stressed out about it, and I do believe his grades suffered as a result. Duke has a Law school. Why doesn't it (and other similar schools) just make defending students against the RIAA part of the law school curriculum? Sounds like great practice, and it would do some good!

    1. Re:Too late.... by NewYorkCountryLawyer · · Score: 5, Interesting

      make defending students against the RIAA part of the law school curriculum

      I've never studied law in my life, but "RIAA Defence 101" is a course i'd sign up for!!!

      Actually Prof. Nesson once assigned his students the task of drafting a motion to quash an RIAA subpoena. Now his law students are fighting the RIAA in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum. Also law students at the University of Maine and University of San Francisco law schools have been fighting the RIAA, and I believe law students at the University of California are going to be getting into the act as well.

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      Ray Beckerman +5 Insightful
  2. Re:Why not earlier? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Advice from Harvard perhaps? Whom, as you pointed out before, the RIAA seemed to be avoiding. Maybe they finally read the advice you sent out too. The government dropped those weighted hints that the universities should work against copyright infringement in an overly broad manner and threatened funding, but if institutions like Harvard who could live without government funding for prolonged periods of time are willing to take up the fight then other institutions are more willing to stand up with them perhaps.

  3. Re:Why not earlier? by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Damn straight. From your original post, let's do the math.

    1287+1068+1002+959+914+897+753+572+550+513+490+488+487+473+470+457+424+400+371+360+353+353+338+336+331=14646 letters sent to the top 25 universities in 06-07.

    14646*($3000) (the typical settlement amount) = $43,938,000

    Sure beats working for a living, doesn't it? Greed personified.

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    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.