Copyright Law

Interesting general article on RIAA lawsuits from DuPage County Bar Association

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

Came across this interesting general article on the website of the Journal of the DuPage County Bar Association:

The RIAA Versus the People: A File-Sharing Witch Hunt

By Heather Neaveill

For the past five years, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has unleashed a barrage of ?John Doe? lawsuits aiming at individuals who illegally file-share or download music and infringe on the recording industry?s copyrighted works. But is their tactic fair? Many defendants say ?no.? The RIAA?s targets are not commercial entities but private, ordinary individuals. Even some federal judges have grown tired of the RIAA?s modus operandi. The Hon. Nancy Gertner addressed counsel in open court that ?counsel representing the record companies have an ethical obligation to fully understand that they are fighting people without lawyers, to fully understand that, more than just how we serve them, but just to understand that the formalities of this are basically bankrupting people and it?s terribly critical that you stop it.? Now, this is not to condone illegal file-sharing, but the question does turn on whether there should still be an element of fairness when fighting illegal activity.

Complete article

Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on March 26, 2009 (boomark / email).