RIAA case with ‘innocent infringement’ defense
p2pnet news view | RIAA News:- In much the same way the usurious $1 per corporate digital track is now virtually accepted as standard, Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s RIAA has used the dripping tap principle — say it loud enough and often enough and eventually, everybody thinks it’s true — to establish $750 as the minimum amount for damages in P2P file sharing cases.
The original defendant in Maverick Recording Co v Harper, a case claiming $750 per for 39 tracks, was Steve Harper, [For Canadian readers, not that Steve Harper], later amended to Whitney Harper.
It’s SOP for the RIAA to use the US judicial system to muscle parents before turning on their real targets, the kids of the house, and in this instance, the corporate music enforcer ended up trying to extort $28,500 out Harper’s daughter, who was only 16 at the time.
The RIAA used ‘evidence’ from MediaSentry as the base.
Whitney claimed ‘innocent infringer’ status.
Said Recording Industry vs The People »»»
Although proper notice was provided on the cover of each of the Recordings, a question
remains as to whether Defendant knew the warnings on compact discs were applicable in this KaZaA setting. Defendant admitted that she owned compact discs.However, both in her affidavit and in her deposition, Defendant claimed that she believed using KaZaA and similar products to be akin to listening to radio over the internet and did not know that the Recordings were being either downloaded or distributed.
She further claimed that prior to this lawsuit, she did not have any understanding of copyright infringement.
The RIAA tried to have the assertion dismissed out of hand because, they said, CDs sold in stores have copyright notices. But the court didn’t buy it, denying the RIAA’s motion for summary judgment unless it agreed to accept $200 per infringement, says Recording Industry vs The People.
Now the case, believed to be only the second of its kind and the first to focus on the innocent infringement defense, will be going to trial, says the post.
It’ll be held at the John H. Wood, Jr, courthouse, room 3, 1st floor, 655 East Durango, San Antonio, Texas, on November 17.
And it’ll be open to the public, if you want to see the RIAA in action against one of its owners customers.
Meanwhile, stay tuned.
Recording Industry vs The People - Innocent infringement defense may reduce damages to $200 per song file in Maverick v. Harper, August 9, 2008
Recording Industry vs The People – San Antonio, Texas, “innocent infringement” case, against girl who was 16 years old, Maverick v Harper, goes to jury trial in November, September 19, 2008
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September 20th, 2008 at 2:34 am
RE: “dripping tap principle â say it loud enough and often enough and eventually, everybody thinks itâs true”
Kind of like their constant claims that people in the entertainment industry are losing their jobs in torrents because of internet file sharing.
Los Angeles county’s latest employment statistics show a hiring boom in the movie, TV and music industries, something that we are unlikely to be hearing much about, since it’s a fact that’s out-of-sync with the **AA’s song we’re supposed to be humming to.
“One bright spot was a sharp jump of 9,000 jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industry between July and August. ”
source: labusinessjournal.com/article.asp?aID=29096534.1413822.1684202.6573166.6636515.419&aID2=129545
September 20th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Since when has the ‘I’m ignorant your honor!’ defense ever worked for someone? Usually the reply is that one should have known better and that there is no excuse for ignorance. If you didn’t know, you should have looked into it, especially when it’s too good to be true. The ignorance defense is kind of like shooting someone with a gun and then trying to claim you didn’t know it was loaded.
“Los Angeles countyâs latest employment statistics show a hiring boom in the movie, TV and music industries, something that we are unlikely to be hearing much about, since itâs a fact thatâs out-of-sync with the **AAâs song weâre supposed to be humming to.”
That is one of the wittiest lines I’ve read in a while. Thanks for the laugh!
September 20th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
âOne bright spot was a sharp jump of 9,000 jobs in the motion picture and sound recording industry between July and August. â
As lomg as it is not to the benefit of the majors RIAA/MPAA parasites I have no objection.
September 20th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
“The ignorance defense is kind of like shooting someone with a gun and then trying to claim you didnât know it was loaded.”
No, but spaying with pest killer the RIAA/MPAA parasites will certainly work.
September 21st, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Irate Pirate Says “there is no excuse for ignorance”.
Wrong. There are many reasons (excuse is an ugly euphemism). Here are some:
- Mental illness
- Low IQ / Mental retardation
- Complicated laws
- Complicated jurisprudence
- Too many opinions as to the meaning of the law
- Wrong legal advise
- Too busy working to eat
- Too young
- Too inexperienced
- Born in a slum
- Alcoholic parents
- No money to get educated
…and so on.
I’m speaking of reasons. “Ignorance is no excuse” is an oxymoron because it is a perfect reason, regardless that many educated persons are biased against the lesser educated persons.
As for being a jackass, as are most judges that say that “ignorance is no excuse”, ignorance is no excuse.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:10 am
Hey Rafael. Next time you get pulled over for speeding, tell the police officer that you don’t deserve a ticket because you didn’t know what the speed limit was. If you want, tell the officer your also mentally handicapped just for good measure and see what happens.
Ignorance: The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.
I find a lot of people tend to be ignorant as to the true meaning of that word.
Whether you should or shouldn’t be doing a possibly criminal act comes down to common sense more often than not. If you are unsure of the law or it’s meaning, it is your responsibility (or your caregivers) to find out more. Sadly, common sense doesn’t seem to be so common anymore and people are too lazy to make the effort these days. Responsibility seems to be a foreign concept to most folk as well.
The other common defense we tend to see a lot is blaming something or someone else for why we do the stupid things we do. People will make up just about any kind of excuse in order to wiggle out of whatever jam they’ve gotten themselves into. Self preservation is a powerful instinct. Sadly it doesn’t matter in the end because the court is usually only interested in one thing 99% of the time; guilty of wrongdoing or not. In most cases the why simply doesn’t matter.
Filesharers need to stop deluding themselves into thinking piracy is a noble cause. It’s not. The bigger picture may be perhaps, especially net neutrality and consumer rights in particular. Even so, I know the main reason I download movies, TV, software and music is because of the cost savings, same as everyone else. It’s hard to beat free stuffz. Greed is human nature. Pretending that downloading copyrighted works without paying for them is all for some greater cause is stupid and we all know it deep down. I also know that the “evil corporations” aren’t any better and probably do deserve to be forcefully put in their place as well, but then again it’s not like I’m being forced to buy their overpriced junk or can’t live without it. Think common sense and responsibility sucks? Stop whining and grow up already.