Forum Home
PC World Chat
Thread ID: 74233	2006-11-15 19:12:00	RIAA Values Skewed?	SurferJoe46 (51)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
499450	2006-11-15 19:12:00	The hallmark of the (RIAA) Recording Industry Association of America's lawsuits against alleged file-sharers has been to demand damages that seem grossly disproportionate to the loss suffered . . . . . . . . . . Pirating a song that sells on iTunes for $ . 99 doesn't really seem to merit the $750 statutory damage award the RIAA so often pursues in these cases . . . . . . so it's nice to see a defendant in an RIAA suit question the constitutionality of that sum . That's what's happened in the group's case against Marie Lindor . . . . . . . . . . a computerless Brooklyn woman who was sued by Universal Music Group in early 2006 . Earlier this week, the presiding judge granted Lindor's motion to argue that the damages sought by the RIAA are unconstitutionally excessive . "Lindor cites to case law and to law review articles suggesting that, in a proper case, a court may extend its current due process jurisprudence prohibiting grossly excessive punitive jury awards to prohibit the award of statutory damages mandated under the Copyright Act if they are grossly in excess of the actual damages suffered," the judge wrote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "Furthermore, Lindor provides a sworn affidavit asserting that plaintiffs' actual damages are 70 cents per recording and that plaintiffs seek statutory damages under the Copyright Act that are 1,071 times the actual damages suffered . " An encouraging turn of events . . . . . . . . . . . . one that will be interesting to watch play out . If Lindor prevails, the RIAA might give a bit more thought to filing suit against alleged file-sharers if court costs exceed the damages it might collect .	SurferJoe46 (51)
499451	2006-11-16 01:14:00	However if "civil recovery" works in the US as it does here, the damages that can be claimed in such a theft case may also include the full costs associated with the discovery and processing of the theft issue. In which case the amount claimed is probably much too low? (or are lawyers cheap over there?)	godfather (25)
1