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Interview Lawyers Who Defend Against RIAA Suits
Posted by
Roblimo
on Mon Sep 11, 2006 02:31 PM
from the when-you-want-an-expert-opinion-ask-an-expert dept.
from the when-you-want-an-expert-opinion-ask-an-expert dept.
Attorneys Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman maintain a blog called Recording Industry vs The People, subtitled, "A blog devoted to the RIAA's lawsuits of intimidation brought against ordinary working people," which was most recently linked from Slashdot on Sept. 10. They've agreed to answer your questions about RIAA suits -- and they obviously will not preface their answers with "IANAL," although we must note that they cannot give specific legal advice about specific cases. For that you need to engage an attorney yourself. (Luckily, their site contains a directory of lawyers willing to defend against RIAA suits.) In any case, these guys obviously know more than the average bear (or lawyer) about how the RIAA goes about suing music fans, how to keep from getting sued by the RIAA, and how to fight back if you do get sued, so we're glad they're willing to help us learn more about this apparently endless legal mess. Usual Slashdot interview rules apply.
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Answers From Lawyers Who Defend Against RIAA Suits 740 comments
You had some excellent questions for attorneys Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman, who maintain the Recording Industry vs The People blog. Here are their answers, verbatim, as they were sent to us by Mr. Beckerman.
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Guilty? (Score:5, Interesting)
Biggest Mistake? (Score:5, Interesting)
Cost (Score:5, Interesting)
Good vs Bad? (Score:5, Interesting)
Lawyers from outer space? (Score:5, Funny)
Out of Court Settlement, Smart/Stupid? (Score:5, Interesting)
Follow up to that, do you believe the RIAA would actually win a $150,000,000 lawsuit if the out of court routes weren't taken? They seem to imply they wouldn't win if they offer these tiny settlements en masse.
Re:Out of Court Settlement, Smart/Stupid? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm more interesting in knowing how they can justify calculating that they have lost $150,000 per song "shared" and why they don't have to show any proof that this amount damage actually occured per song.
Parent
Re:Out of Court Settlement, Smart/Stupid? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
How can we prevent needing your services? (Score:5, Interesting)
Suing You Remotely (Score:5, Insightful)
Evidence? (Score:5, Insightful)
The Counter Suit (Score:5, Interesting)
I mean, who is going to chase after these lawsuits and counter sue? What repurcussions can a counter suit have on the RIAA? And, if they do successfully counter sue, how much does that slow down the RIAA?
When will this end? Could there be an epic counter suit that would make the RIAA stop with law suits?
Systemic Problem? (Score:5, Interesting)
I mean, there doesn't seem to be much of a way to fight an RIAA lawsuit money-wise. It always seems to end quickly: Either the defendant ist so obviously innocent they drop the case or he/she settles for "pennies on the dollar". When do you think we'll see a few definite trials to answer the hanging legal questions about investigative tactics and what an IP proves?
Your Colleagues Contact Information (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't be shy about telling us which one has won the most cases against low income citizens.
Other drive content and RIAA fishing expeditions (Score:5, Insightful)
Is there any mecahnism by which the court can compel my cooperation and are there any penalties for steadfastly refusing to provide it?
Your opinion on file-sharing and copyright (Score:5, Interesting)
What do you think that the RIAA should do to prevent piracy? Do you agree or disagree with the lawsuits as they are doing them now? Do you suggest a better way? How about your opinion on the current state of copyright law?
Wireless (Score:5, Interesting)
allofmp3 (Score:5, Interesting)
Historic precedent? (Score:5, Interesting)
Are there any precedents in history of any industry doing anything like this before? I know there have been examples of cartels forming and the cartel using their combined power against other businesses, but is there anything in history like a cartel using its massive legal leverage against their own customer base?
Theft (Score:5, Interesting)
Is copyright infringement, theft (or not).
Where is the line? (Score:5, Interesting)
Are RIAA's tactics racketeering? (Score:5, Interesting)
What about (Score:5, Interesting)
Which of the following are illegal ? (Score:5, Interesting)
1) Trading CDs via US Mail
2) Ripping CDs that I own to mp3, and playing them on my computer.
2a) Backing up CDs to mp3 on my computer
3) Ripping CDs that I own to mp3, and then putting them on my mp3 player for my own personal use.
3a)Loaning the mp3 player to my friend with the ripped music from question 3
4) Borrowing a CD from the library, ripping the CD to my computer and listening to the music on my mp3 player, and deleting the music when I return the CD to the library.
4a) Never deleting the music from the computer/mp3 player
5) Emailing an mp3 from question 2 to one friend to listen to, and requesting that he delete it once he is finished.
5a) emailing an mp3 to 10 friends and asking them to delete it once its been listened to?
5b)
6) Using a p2p service to trade mp3s from CDs they own with mp3s from CDs you own
7) Using allofmp3 to download music
8) Stripping copy protection from iTunes or PlaysForSure music files, to play them on your mp3 player.
9) How does the RIAA show that the music you have on your computer are not backup mp3 files from CDs that were destroyed or lost by you?
9a) Can I use a p2p service to acquire a song I legally owned from a CD I owned, but was destroyed or lost?
IP Addresses (Score:5, Insightful)
Questions:
Does current 4th amendment legal precedent allow for the confiscation of anything capable of storing files from behind a public IP address?
In otherwords, if I'm running a 'Internet cafe', and someone in my place allegedly downloads a music file, and the public IP shows up on an RIAA screenshot, is it legal for a judge to order everything in my cafe to be confiscated and searched? Does 4th amendment legal precedent allow for such mass grab-everything-and-go searches?
Has anyone ever pointed out to a judge how easy it is to fake a screenshot? Are there any rules of discovery regarding such flimsy evidence? I mean, suppose I want to accuse the RIAA of threatening me with murder in a court, and produce a piece of paper with a death threat that has the RIAA's corporate headquarters letterhead on it, all on a very good looking piece of laser printed output. Wouldn't most courts throw out something so easily faked? What if I just handwrote in crayon "I'm the RIAA and I'm coming to kill you" on a piece of paper, and them sued them using that as evidence? How far would that get in a court of law?
Are there such things as 'vexatious litigant' laws is some states? If so, how does someone get declared to be a 'vexatious litigant', and what are the consequences?