p2pnet news view RIAA |  Kids & Kartels:- Michigan’s Candy Chan is another of the victims in the specious civil actions the Big Four Organized Music cartel is bringing against disenchanted customers in a bid to force them to become fully compliant consumers.

The Big Four, Warner Music (US), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), EMI (Britain) and Vivendi Universal (France), failed with Mrs Chan, so they turned on her daughter, Brittany, then 13.

The plan was to have a Guardian Ad Litem appointed and, if a copyright infringement case such as this, “were fully litigated, in the manner in which the RIAA litigates cases, I’d expect the guardian ad litem’s fees to be in the tens of thousands of dollars, and the fees of his or her counsel, and expert witnesses, to possibly reach or even exceed $100,000,” Ray Beckerman, who’s representing several RIAA victims, told p2pnet recently.

“Since the likely recovery in the case is zero, it being unlikely that the teenaged defendant has any nonexempt assets with which to satisfy a judgment, it’s not clear why the RIAA is proceeding to ask for appointment of a guardian ad litem,” he said.

The Big Four’s RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) was demanding that an order be made to compel Brittany’s parents to pay for the guardianship. This, as another intimidation tactic, may have been reason enough.

However, the RIAA’s request for a guardian ad litem for Brittany, now 14, has been thrown out.

Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff, “held that it was necessary to appoint an independent guardian ad litem to defend the minor defendant, but rejected the procedure suggested by plaintiff, both on the ground that it would not serve the interests of the child or the interests of justice, and did not provide for a method to ensure that the guardian ad litem gets paid for his or her services,” says Beckerman on Recording Industry vs The People.

This is the second recent defeat for the RIAA.

In another spurious case, this time against Oregon mother Tanya Andersen, it failed in its attempt to gain unrestrained access to her hard-drive.

Meanwhile, New York mother Patti Santangelo remains firm in her determination to force the RIAA to account for its actions in what will be the first case in which one of the RIAA’s 18,000 victims is able to take it on in an open court before a jury.

Also See:
turned on her daughter – Big Music wants Britanny Chan, October 5, 2006
exceed $100,000 – RIAA schoolgirl victim hearing, January 9, 2006
Beckerman – Judge Denies Guardian Ad Litem Motion in Priority v. Brittany Chan; RIAA Argues Brittany and Her Parents Should Have to Pay Guardian’s Fees, March 21, 2006
unrestrained access – p2pnet talks to Tanya Andersen, March 21, 2006
first case – Patti Santangelo fund nears $11.5K, March 5, 2006

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Kids and Kartels, RIAA News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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