UK Law Firm Exaggerates Its $30,000 Win Over Pinball Game Sharer
from the default-judgment dept
We wrote about the woman who was fined $30,000 for file sharing a pinball video game earlier this week, noting that the press seemed to be taking the word of the law firm that sued her, Davenport Lyons, as if it were fact. That seemed problematic -- and we should have realized that it was even more problematic than initially noted. TorrentFreak has turned up the fact that this was a default judgment against the woman, meaning that she didn't even show up in court to defend herself. Effectively, the court more or less had to decide this way. Davenport Lyons, of course, implied that she had fought the case and lost -- and thus, everyone else would be better off just paying based on the pre-settlement letters that the firm seems to send out in bulk. But that's not necessarily true. There's no indication how a court would rule if an actual defense were put forth.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.
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Filed Under: copyright, default judgment, uk, video games
Companies: davenport lyons
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Hopefully there is more to the story than what appears in the news. Is the plaintiff really inclined to demand the damages award be paid, or there a side letter that lets the plaintiff gets its "headline" while excusing payment under a confidential arrangement? Personally, I would strongly urge a client to pursue the latter course. It makes the point publicly, but at the same time ameliorates the obvious hardship to the defendant.
BTW, I strongly doubt that the plaintiff is proceeding blindly by failing to recognize the likelihood of negative PR. Such actions by business executives/management are rarely made in a casual manner and are usually employed as a last resort.
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Although, DRM laden games are just as bad. Except that you pay for them. Well - maybe once anyway :)
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RIAA should pay people to not appear in court
If paying them doesn't work I guess kidnapping is next.
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Re: …what would ever possess an individual…?
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How surreal has our world become
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Apparently...
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This just in . . .
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