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RIAA Defendant Moves For Summary Judgment
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "One thing you don't see too much of in RIAA litigation is a defendant moving for summary judgment, but that is what just occurred in federal court in Westchester, in Lava Records v. Amurao II. The RIAA had brought suit against Rolando Amurao, a middle aged man who knew nothing about file sharing. After haranguing him for 2 years, they dropped the case and sued his daughter, Audrey, who had used LimeWire years ago. When the RIAA moved for summary judgment against Audrey, however, she surprised them with a summary judgment motion of her own, calling for dismissal of the complaint on the grounds that the statute of limitations had run out on the RIAA's claims. The brief filed by her attorney (PDF) also points out some of the other infirmities in the RIAA's case, such as the inadmissibility of its evidence, the legal nonexistence of a claim for 'making available,' and the unconstitutionality of its damages theory. According to sources, the RIAA is unhappy about Audrey's motion, and is preparing a letter to send the Judge asking the Judge not to allow her to make it. Meanwhile, Audrey's father's case, Lava Records v. Rolando Amurao, is on appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the 2d Circuit over the issue of whether the RIAA should have to reimburse Mr. Amurao for his attorneys fees. Although the appeal was fully briefed and scheduled for argument May 19th, the RIAA has been asking for postponements of the argument."
At what point does the legal system itself become a tool for prosecution? Both the father and daughter are involved, despite the outcome, it basically amounts to harassment. Sad.
Trying to install linux on my microwave, but keep getting a kernel panic...
Thanks NewYorkCountryLawyer for your posts and followups. I for one greatly enjoy reading them.
The way I interpret this (although IANAL) is that if you're sharing a folder online, and they don't sue you within 3 years, you're pretty much home free? This could be really good news for people who share files. Especially since you could copy them to a computer not connected to the internet, wait 3 years, then release it to the wild.
IANAL either, but I believe you're confusing two points. There are two different rights given to copyright holders - the exclusive right to create copies, and the exclusive right to distribute them to others.
The section you're reading only applies to the former. So imagine the following: You download a bunch of songs from the 'net, and have them on your hard drive for more than 3 years. Then they discover that you have those infringing copies. The statute of limitation prevents them from suing you for having copied those songs without the rights holder's permission.
But, if you then distribute them to the public, a new infringement occurs (a violation of the exclusive right to distribute). The statute of limitations on *that* runs from the date of distribution, not the date of copying.
Don't tell me to get a life. I had one once. It sucked.
Pardon me, but isn't traditional purpose of so-called zombies is supposed to obey the orders and act as a proxy of the person who raised them?
RIAA is just a bogeyman. A shadow puppet. It is the *media companies* that are suing you. It is *media companies* like Sony, Warner Bros. etc. which are harassing their own consumers. I am not aware of "RIAA" producing any songs.
Sony would not like the negative publicity of being caught suing a 84 year old grandmother. So it banded up with other companies to make a dummy face which people can hate, instead of sony itself or other such companies. Corporations hate the negative publicity. That is the only place where we can hurt them. And when you hate/attack the puppet instead of its master, you are being just the dumb person Sony and its ilk assumed you to be, and playing their game their way.
You want RIAA to die? Stop naming RIAA in these stories as the suing party. It is not that tough to find out which company in the cabal is alleging the piracy. Name *them* when you report the stories of blind homeless veteran being sued by them.
If someone sues you with malice, should you hate the lawyer they have hired, or the guy who is actually suing you and paying the lawyer to make your life hell?
Sony and its pals do these stunts because they know you will hate the "RIAA" instead of them, and they will get to keep their rosy image and be safe from any direct public-backlash. Change the rules, and attack the voodoo witchdoctor. And then see the zombies die.