Copyright Law

A letter to Sen. Hatch from one of our readers

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

One of our readers shared with me a copy of a letter he just wrote to this senator, Senator Hatch who is a member of the Judiciary Committee:

Senator Hatch-

I am a resident of Salt Lake City and I write to you today about my
concern regarding the practices of the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA) and to bring to your attention the false statements
and blatant lies the RIAA provided to the Judiciary Committee in their
December 23rd letter:

http://beckermanlegal.com/pdf/?file=/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/RIAAToCongress_081223.pdf

As you most likely know, the RIAA has been involved in an unsuccessful
intimidation and extortion scheme under the guise of curtailing
peer-to-peer sharing of music files. Unfortunately, this litigation
campaign has not been effective and has instead been an abuse and
drain on our legal system. The vast majority of ordinary citizens
caught up in their dragnet (guilty or not) have no means for an
adequate defense and end up settling out of court. For the few
defendants who stick up and fight, the RIAA is quick to throw in the
towel when things don't go their way. In fact, only one case has gone
to trial in this multi-year campaign, the result of which was a
verdict in favor of the RIAA later being thrown out due to the major
legal argument of the RIAA being invalid in the eyes of the courts.

With the news that three lawyers with ties to the RIAA are now part of
the of the Department of Justice (Associate Attorney General Perrelli,
Associate Deputy Attorney General Verrilli - the lawyer in the above
mentioned trial, and Deputy Attorney General Ogden) I am deeply
concerned that the RIAA's campaign and other illegal activities may
continue unchecked.

The specific matter I would like to draw your attention to is the
statement in their December 23rd letter:

"Also, during this past summer, we began discussions with New York
Attorney General Cuomo, who suggested that now was the time to take
our practice of last resort ? lawsuits ? and replace that form of
deterrence with productive engagement by the ISP community in the form
of graduated response programs. At his request, as an act of good
faith in pursuing these alternatives, we discontinued initiating new
lawsuits in August."

What were their discussions with New York Attorney General Cuomo
regarding? Were the record companies being investigated for some
violation of NY law? What was the RIAA's agreement to stop their
litigation campaign some kind of deal with respect to this
investigation? If so, I'd like to point out that their statement that
the RIAA discontinued initiating new lawsuits in August is a blatant
lie. The following link shows a list of nearly 40 lawsuits the RIAA
has known to have initiated as part of their litigation campaign in
December alone:

http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html#1104859189661357526

I have no ties to the recording industry nor to anyone sued by the
RIAA. I am just a concerned citizen of your state that has followed
this litigation campaign with disgust for a number of years. I ask
that as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee you remain diligent
in your dealings with the RIAA and critical of their continued
campaign, including their recent misrepresentations of facts to you.

Thank you.

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 February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).