Recording Industry Tries To Shut Down Search Engine In Spain Without Allowing It To Defend Itself
from the fairness-not-needed dept
Last month, we wrote about how the recording industry was able to pressure the operator of a BitTorrent search engine into pleading guilty despite not actually having broken the law. The site in question didn't host any infringing files, but merely linked to a variety of files. Previous lawsuits had shown that, in Spain, merely linking is not infringement. But with the cost of a huge court case, the operator found it cheaper to just settle. Emboldened by this, it appears the industry is going after other sites as well, despite the earlier court rulings finding such sites legal. TorrentFreak notes that in one case, against the search engine Agujero.com, the local recording industry reps demanded an immediate injunction against the site, without even allowing the site's operators to give its side. Luckily, the judge did not fall for this, and after a hearing in which both sides presented their position, is allowing the site to continue operating while the trial continues, noting that shutting down the site: "might cause irreparable prejudice to the defendant." It's good to see another reasonable ruling, though troubling that the recording industry tried to push for an immediate injunction.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: bittorrent, file sharing, injunctions, search, spain
Companies: agujero.com
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
what is the word for this?
And what laws prevent this?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: what is the word for this?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Recording Industry seems determined to change that though
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's called a preliminary injunction
In most courts in the United States, the party seeking the preliminary injunction must demonstrate all four things together:
1. That there is a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of the case,
2. That they face a substantial threat of irreparable damage or injury if the injunction is not granted,
3. That the balance of harms weighs in favor of the party seeking the preliminary injunction
4. That the grant of an injunction would serve the public interest.
Most industrialized countries have similar doctrines (the elements aren't exactly the same, but they're similar), and it has nothing to do with the big guy beating up on the little guy, or specifically copyright cases. This happens in all areas of law with defendants of every size. Usually, the judge requires that the plaintiff pay a bond, and this can be anywhere from a couple grand to hundreds of millions (and plaintiffs sometimes don't want to pay the bond).
The judge isn't an idiot. He did the right thing.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Freeloaders
Etc
Etc
Etc
Pay for music, it's simple. Or fuck off
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Pay for music...
I'm not a musician, but I am a programmer. I understand the time and effort that goes into creating something that you want to get paid for. That being said, I also understand that if I don't KEEP creating, I don't DESERVE to get paid.
Personally, I don't think anyone else deserves to be paid indefinitely either. I would grant you a few years and maybe even a couple decades depending on the type of work, but beyond that, get off your butt and do something new for a change.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Effin Labels
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]