In a USA TODAY story this morning not yet published online (USA Today – August 13, 2003 – Page 3D), Mike Snider reports that Sacramento attorney Daniel Ballard will be taking the fight back to the music industry with the expected filing this week of a lawsuit against the RIAA.
USA TODAY reports that as of this date, more than 1,200 subpoenas have been issued, and court clerks are seeing more every day.
One such subpoena recepient, known currently only as “Jane Doe,” has hired Ballard to sue the RIAA for not proving that illegal file distribution actually occured on her machine.
“Just because a user’s PC has music stored within a peer-to-peer file-sharing program doesn’t mean the user is illegally distributing copyrighted material,” said Ballard.
“Distribution implies sending, rather than leaving something where it may be taken,” Ballard added.
Because the RIAA is currently requesting subpoenas based on searching for song titles and corresponding users’ IP addresses, Ballard believes he has a strong case because the RIAA apparently doesn’t actually attempt to download songs found on users’ systems to prove that distribution has occured.
Fred von Lohmann, at attorney for the EFF, told USA TODAY that the suit brings “another dimension to the fight.”
IN RELATED DEVELOPMENTS –
Verizon’s appeal against the court decision which got the RIAA started with their blizzard of subpoenas is scheduled for September 16.
Columbia University has joined two colleges in Massachusetts in their motions to quash the subpoenas issued against their students for being “defectively” filed in the wrong circuit court.
The RIAA has complied with subpoenas issued by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations, turning over copies of all of its subpoenas against file swappers. Chairman Senator Norm Coleman, (R-Minn.) demanded the information and is concerned about potential subpoena power abuse by the RIAA and others.
Users are holding their breath to see if the RIAA actually files suit against them. The RIAA claims it will begin suing users in stages (probably a few hundred at a time) beginning later this month or early September.
Related
- MIT May Fight Second RIAA Subpoena
- RIAA Quickie Subpoenas Shot Down by Judge
- RIAA Profits Nearly $100 Million by Suing P2P Users
- EFF Working to Make RIAA Subpoenas Public
- Verizon user’s arguments already defeated in court, RIAA states
