Florida Judge Won't Let The RIAA Off The Hook
from the pissed-off-judge dept
If you follow the various RIAA lawsuits, you'll notice the pattern. The RIAA bullies and bullies and bullies people, trying to get them to settle. They almost never want to go to court -- and if someone fights back -- especially to the point of filing countersuits, the RIAA looks to get out of the case as quickly as possible. Step one, of course, is trying to get the countersuits dismissed. Apparently, it tried to do that last year when a defendant in Tampa countersued the RIAA. The judge, however, wouldn't let the RIAA off the hook and refused to dismiss most of the counterclaims. Amazingly, in a very similar case in front of the same judge, with the defendant again countersuing -- the RIAA asked the court to dismiss the countersuits, claiming the earlier decision was in error. Generally speaking, it's probably not a great idea to tell the judge that a ruling he made a few months back in a nearly identical case was a mistake. After receiving the motion to dismiss the countersuit Tuesday evening, the judge turned it down first thing Wednesday morning. The judge's order itself is short and sweet, saying that the RIAA showed no evidence as to why the original ruling was incorrect and so it sees no reason to treat this countersuit any differently than the last one. Of course, just like last time, the RIAA doesn't want this to go to court, and will likely try to settle up as quickly as possible.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: countersuits, florida, lawsuits, riaa
Companies: riaa
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Wrong State
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I'd put money that, by 2012, the organization is no more, having been exposed as the criminal organization it is.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Govenrments Take Note
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2001/10/47552
http://copyfight.corante.com/archi ves/2004/09/07/riaa_lobbyist_drm_up_or_induce_is_gonna_getcha.php
http://digg.com/music/RIAA_spen t_2_million_lobbying_for_tougher_IP_laws_in_2007
eleete.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Let the Ancillary Product be Born
eleete.com
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Florida is apparently pretty cool
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It is a sad state...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
put an exorbant amount on the countersuit
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
countersuits may be the key
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: countersuits may be the key
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: countersuits may be the key
...by the RIAA. None of the money recovered so far has been going to the artists, remember that.
IANAL, but I think there would be serious problems with mounting a class action lawsuit, for legal and logistical reasons. Especially when some of the people sued by the RIAA were already dead by the time the original threat was made...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Countersuits, etc.
You post "Of course" as if the RIAA is somehow doing something underhanded by looking for a settlement out of court. There are two good reasons, or more, to settle before going to trial. The first is that going to trial is very expensive. The second is that a trial can easily get out of control and become unpredictable. These two considerations are valid for plaintiff and defendant alike. I have heard that most suits are handled without going to trial.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Riaa
What in the world is Riaa and who was the judge??????????????
[ link to this | view in chronology ]