News RIAA Countersued Under Racketeering Laws

From CNet:

It's probably not the first time that record company executives have been likened to Al Capone, but this time a judge might have to agree or disagree.

A New Jersey woman, one of the hundreds of people accused of copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America, has countersued the big record labels, charging them with extortion and violations of the federal antiracketeering act.

Through her attorneys, Michele Scimeca contends that by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the RIAA is violating the same laws that are more typically applied to gangsters and organized crime.

"This scare tactic has caused a vast amount of settlements from individuals who feared fighting such a large institution and feel victim to these actions and felt forced to provide funds to settle these actions instead of fighting," Scimeca's attorney, Bart Lombardo, wrote in documents filed with a New Jersey federal court. "These types of scare tactics are not permissible and amount to extortion."

More here...


Racketeering... Hmm... Never thought about it that way... Good luck to Michelle Scimeca!

 

Woohhooooo! I like that woman! Sue Sue Sue. I hope she wins!

 

Fantastic! This has to be the best news yet, and I am sure it will spark a whole series of similar claims...

Of course, then the RIAA will start leaving dead horses heads in peoples beds... kinda makes me glad I don't own a horse!

 

Is there a way you can leave a LIVE horses head in someone's bed then???

 

normally i laught at many of the seemingly outrageous law suites americans file. like a man suing a cable company for his kids being far and the guy who suied cus his cruiser crashed when he left the steering wheel to make a drink thinking cruise control would do the driving for him. Those people deserve what they get imo but this.... this i like.

I wish her the best of luck

 

http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5129687.html?tag=st_rn

 

Good. I'm damn glad to hear it. It's about time somebody with power starts realizing what they're doing isn't right. Aargghh, matey.

 

About time too, I'm surprised that they are/were allowed to use such tactics anyway!

 

Nice going ...

 

It would be nice to see it turned into a class action suit...

 

Even if they aren't stopping (yet) this is still great news. Hopefully they will get slowed down more.

 

/me notes the date of that article... tsk tsk...

Anywho, I hope this lawsuit works out. I for one would quite like to see the RIAA practically called gangsters by the courts

 

D'oh

Dec 19th, Feb 19th, 2003, 2004, all the same, eh?

The courts know that the RIAA is just one big mafia anyways

You would think that artists have figured out that they don't need the RIAA by now. Seriously, how much could it cost to buy the equipment to make a CD? It isn't enough to break the bank certanly. Advertise and sell your CDs online.

Presto, you can charge $8-20 a CD and take most of it in as profit, instead of paying a lot of it to other people. Plus, you have the added bonus of advertising your music as "RIAA FREE" or whatever.

I am waiting for someone to start a company that just does two things: serves as an add agency for atrists and manufacturers CDs (or possibly outsource it at minimal cost). Artists don't need to throw all this money at the industrial machine, why bother?

 

Yes, but you need the rest of the horse too... actually, I think I would find that scarier!

More on topic though... is there an equivilent (sp?) to the RIAA in the UK? If so, are they suing everyone too, or are us UK-ians going to get sued by Americans?

 

yup - the BPI (British phonographic industry) and they announced back in january i think it was they were considering taking legal action as well, altho i beleive they specified they would target the uploaders not the downloaders as UK copyright law says you cant distribute. Makes more sence to, if you take down half a dozen people not just downloading but activly distributing 100's of files then the network will go down faster.

It still makes me laught though, they refuse to accept its the singles themselfs that are the problem. Even the industry figures point to a rise in album sales plus the losses they say are in effect can also be connected to the lowered production of music as well. I swa figures somewhere showing that although the industry was saying they were down 10% on sales they had also produced something like 5% less as well.Supply and demand? maybe but people arnt going to buy more when theres less choice.

The RIAA are playing the game like thugs and all credit to this woman for challenging that point. Also all credit to the BPI for taking their time, gauging public opinion and at least to an extent listening to whats going on befor taking what is looking to be sensible legal action rather than mafia style legal action.

 

we will see
in our country SABAM has already taken action

 

and whats nuts is the RIAA says downloaders are "stealing from the artists." that's really irrelevant. artists make absolutly little money from albums sold. in fact, most LOSE money on CDs. when a label signs a band for a $1 million record deal, thats just a loan. they need to pay that back. which means just about all the revenue from the album sales goes right back to the record label and the producers and the cost of materials (all of $0.70US) and whatnot. artists really make their money from touring and merchandise like t-shirts and posters and stuff. why do you think so many artists lend their names to products and stuff? to actually make money.

so downloading a $15 CD isn't stealing from the artists, it's stealing from the labels, which is exactly why the RIAA is pissed off and only like a small handful of artists.