Tuesday, November 18, 2008

RIAA attempt to enter judgment for twice settlement amount rejected by Judge Gertner in Boston

In settling cases, the RIAA has an unusual practice of sometimes asking the defendant to agree to an immediate judgment for twice the actual settlement amount.

This practice was rejected on November 18th, in Boston, by Judge Gertner, in a case in which a defendant who was not represented by counsel signed such a settlement:

Judge Nancy Gertner: ELECTRONIC ORDER entered re Stipulation To Judgment and Permanent Injunction filed by All Plaintiffs as to defendant LaShaana Straw. "The parties' Stipulation to Judgment is DENIED. Plaintiffs request that the Court approve a Stipulation requiring the Defendant to pay $10,700, yet state in their Response that they have agreed to accept half that amount, $5,350, in full satisfaction of the monetary portion of the proposed judgment. The Plaintiffs do not provide any reason for this highly unusual arrangement, and the Court will not approve a stipulation which fails reflect the actual terms of the agreement. The Plaintiffs must present to the Court a proposed judgment which accurately states the amount the Defendant will be required to pay to settle the claims."

Commentary & discussion:

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"[C]ounsel representing the record companies have an ethical obligation to fully understand that they are fighting people without lawyers... that the formalities of this are basically bankrupting people, and it's terribly critical that you stop it...."
-Hon. Nancy Gertner, District Judge, District of Massachusetts, June 17, 2008...

Can you believe it, The same Judge who told them to "knock it off" is witness to more dirty tricks.
After she tells them to stop, they try and pull this.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Judge!

{The Common Man Cheering}