Recording Industry vs The People: Magistrate denies RIAA motion for discovery sanctions in UMG v Lindor

Friday, October 09, 2009

Magistrate denies RIAA motion for discovery sanctions in UMG v Lindor

Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy has recommended that the RIAA's motion for discovery sanctions against the defendant and her counsel in UMG Recordings v. Lindor be denied, and that the RIAA's motion for the action to be voluntarily dismissed "without prejudice" be granted.

The Judge held that "Plaintiffs’ claims concerning defendant’s conduct are largely overstated."

Decision of Magistrate Judge denying plaintiffs' motion for discovery sanctions, granting plaintiffs' motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice

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

15 comments:

Travis said...: 4 Years of litigation and the judge says no attorney fees for you even though we can't prove a thing. This is disgusting.; October 9, 2009 at 5:25:00 PM EDT
bbsux said...: Yeesh - RIAA doesn't have to re-emburse her for her costs!!!

Welcome to the USB (United States of Obama); October 9, 2009 at 6:02:00 PM EDT
raybeckerman said...: The decision does not make any recommendation regarding the Copyright Act attorneys fees. That issue was not before the Court.; October 9, 2009 at 6:45:00 PM EDT
derivative said...: "That issue was not before the court."

Well, that's good to know.

So maybe you can pull the old "it's after the statute of limitations so a dismissal without prejudice is still a final dismissal, so show me the money" trick?

If the appellate court is smart enough to read between the lines and do the right thing in Lava, I would think Lindor would be a slam dunk for this.

Congratulations on the rest of the decision anyway; during the case I was surprised by so many of the decisions that I wasn't sure how this was going to go.

-- derivative; October 9, 2009 at 7:11:00 PM EDT
Justin Olbrantz (Quantam) said...: Copyright Act attorneys fees? What exactly is distinct about that?; October 9, 2009 at 7:13:00 PM EDT
raybeckerman said...: Justin, the Court can't decide a motion that is not even before the Court. Mrs. Lindor hasn't made an attorneys fees motion yet.; October 9, 2009 at 8:01:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: @bbsux

USB? -> "B" is actually the first initial of another recent US president. Perhaps it is not what you meant. How about USoO (you sue)?; October 10, 2009 at 5:25:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: " Welcome to the USB (United States of Obama)"

This case was ongoing long before
Obama showed up.

Lets not turn THIS site into a stupid
political 'pissing' match ..

please ?

Dreddsnik; October 10, 2009 at 12:29:00 PM EDT
Garren said...: Mr. Beckerman, great job on the case and I'm glad to see your client and you came out 'winning' so to speak.

And you've got an article over here: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/10/magistrate-clears-blogger-riaa-of-vexatious-charges/

-Garren over at Boycott-riaa.com; October 12, 2009 at 7:42:00 PM EDT
mathinker said...: It seems to me that this judge seems fairly unswayed by "the power/propaganda of the corporation". While he did find in favor of sanctions in Interscope Records v. Barbosa, at $200, they weren't a grossly unreasonable sum like the jury judgments have been.; October 13, 2009 at 4:04:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: Congratulations on your victory. Please continue to do such an excellent job of standing against the abuse of power perpetrated by the RIAA and MPAA.; October 13, 2009 at 9:54:00 AM EDT
usagemayvary said...: welp, any surprise here Ray?

How did they get out of it on their side? Specifically vexatious litigation/malicious prosecution/abuse of process?

Does the process of profiting off the settlement letters uncovered by p2pnet have any possible bearing on this case? I'm referring to this:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091012/0310056486.shtml; October 13, 2009 at 2:23:00 PM EDT
jkgamer said...: > Welcome to the USB (United States of Obama)

C'mon, do we have to blame everything on the sitting president? There are plenty of other individuals involved in policy making decisions. Supreme Court, Senate, Congress, and President.

It's more likely "Welcome to the USC (United States of Corporations" since they seemed to be the ones calling all the shots in today's climate.; February 2, 2010 at 3:57:00 PM EST
usagemayvary said...: it's not over yet. However, RIAA voluntary dismissal is a good step from some perspectives - although Lindor was demonized by this, at least they are out of the fire directly.

I hope she makes a motion for attorney fees...Ray, wasn't there some case/precedent where the RIAA or MPAA did this in another case and the judge awarded attorney fees to the defendant? was it this case, even?; February 2, 2010 at 4:31:00 PM EST
Anti-bodies said...: I wish there were a way to punish the'RIAA for their, to my mind gratuitous suits against vulnerable individuals. I went on their site and was dismayed at the record labels who are their sponsors, including alternative and counter-cultural companies. They also claim to be for "Free Speech" that is obviously not free for anyone else. Even now, in 2010, where they have won many of their battles. They seem vicious and vindictive; July 11, 2010 at 4:32:00 AM EDT

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JUDICIAL QUOTATIONS

"[T]he Court is concerned about the lack of facts establishing that Defendant was using that IP address at that particular time. Indeed, the [complaint] does not explain what link, if any, there is between Defendant and the IP address. It is possible that Plaintiff sued Defendant because he is the subscriber to IP address .... As recognized by many courts, just because an IP address is registered to an individual does not mean that he or she is guilty of infringement when that IP address is used to commit infringing activity." -Hon. Barry Ted Moskowitz, Chief Judge, S.D. California. January 29, 2013, AF Holdings v. Rogers
"The complaints assert that the defendants – identified only by IP address – were the individuals who downloaded the subject “work” and participated in the BitTorrent swarm. However, the assumption that the person who pays for Internet access at a given location is the same individual who allegedly downloaded a single sexually explicit film is tenuous, and one that has grown more so over time." - Hon. Gary R. Brown, Magistrate Judge, E.D.N.Y. May 1, 2012, K-Beech v. Does 1-37
"The concern of this Court is that in these lawsuits, potentially meritorious legal and factual defenses are not being litigated, and instead, the federal judiciary is being used as a hammer by a small group of plaintiffs to pound settlements out of unrepresented defendants."
-Hon. S. James Otero, Dist. Judge, Central Dist. California, March 2, 2007, Elektra v. O'Brien, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 1555
"The University has adequately demonstrated that it is not able to identify the alleged infringers with a reasonable degree of technical certainty...[C]ompliance with the subpoena as to the IP addresses represented by these Defendants would expose innocent parties to intrusive discovery....[T]he Court declines to authorize discovery and quashes the subpoena as to Does # 8, 9, and 14" -Hon. Nancy Gertner, Dist. Judge, Dist. Massachusetts, November 24, 2008, London-Sire Records v. Does 1-4
"[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, Dist. Judge, Dist. Massachusetts, June 17, 2008, London-Sire v. Does 1-4
"Rule 11(b)(3) requires that a representation in a pleading have evidentiary support and one wonders if the Plaintiffs are intentionally flouting that requirement in order to make their discovery efforts more convenient or to avoid paying the proper filing fees. In my view, the Court would be well within its power to direct the Plaintiffs to show cause why they have not violated Rule 11(b) with their allegations respecting joinder. [I]t is difficult to ignore the kind of gamesmanship that is going on here.....These plaintiffs have devised a clever scheme... to obtain court-authorized discovery prior to the service of complaints, but it troubles me that they do so with impunity and at the expense of the requirements of Rule 11(b)(3) because they have no good faith evidentiary basis to believe the cases should be joined." -Hon. Margaret J. Kravchuk, Magistrate Judge, District of Maine, January 25, 2008, Arista v. Does 1-27, 2008 WL 222283, modified Oct. 29, 2008
"[N]either the parties' submissions nor the Court's own research has revealed any case holding the mere owner of an internet account contributorily or vicariously liable for the infringing activities of third persons.....In addition to the weakness of the secondary copyright infringement claims against Ms. Foster, there is a question of the plaintiffs' motivations in pursuing them..... [T]here is an appearance that the plaintiffs initiated the secondary infringement claims to press Ms. Foster into settlement after they had ceased to believe she was a direct or "primary" infringer." -Hon. Lee R. West, District Judge, Western District of Oklahoma, February 6, 2007, Capitol v. Foster, 2007 WL 1028532
"[A]n overwhelming majority of cases brought by recording companies against individuals are resolved without so much as an appearance by the defendant, usually through default judgment or stipulated dismissal.....The Defendant Does cannot question the propriety of joinder if they do not set foot in the courthouse." -Hon. S. James Otero, Central District of California, August 29, 2007, SONY BMG v. Does 1-5, 2007 ILRWeb (P&F) 2535
"Plaintiffs are ordered to file any future cases of this nature against one defendant at a time, and may not join defendants for their convenience."
-Hon. Sam Sparks and Hon. Lee Yeakel, District Judges, Western District of Texas, November 17, 2004, Fonovisa v. Does 1-41, 2004 ILRWeb (P&F) 3053
"The Court is unaware of any other authority that authorizes the ex parte subpoena requested by plaintiffs."
-Hon. Walter D. Kelley, Jr., District Judge, Eastern District of Virginia, July 12, 2007, Interscope v. Does 1-7, 494 F. Supp. 2d 388, vacated on reconsideration 6/20/08
"Plaintiffs contend that unless the Court allows ex parte immediate discovery, they will be irreparably harmed. While the Court does not dispute that infringement of a copyright results in harm, it requires a Coleridgian "suspension of disbelief" to accept that the harm is irreparable, especially when monetary damages can cure any alleged violation. On the other hand, the harm related to disclosure of confidential information in a student or faculty member's Internet files can be equally harmful.....Moreover, ex parte proceedings should be the exception, not the rule."
-Hon. Lorenzo F. Garcia, Magistrate Judge, District of New Mexico, May 24, 2007, Capitol v. Does 1-16, 2007 WL 1893603
"'Statutory damages must still bear some relation to actual damages." Hon. Michael J. Davis, Dist. Judge, U.S.District Court, Dist. Minnesota, January 22, 2010, Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset
"[T]his court finds that defendants' use of the same ISP and P2P networks to allegedly commit copyright infringement is, without more, insufficient for permissive joinder under Rule 20. This court will sever not only the moving defendants from this action, but all other Doe defendants except Doe 2."
-Hon. W. Earl Britt, District Judge, Eastern District of North Carolina, February 27, 2008, LaFace v. Does 1-38, 2008 WL 544992
"[L]arge awards of statutory damages can raise due process concerns. Extending the reasoning of Gore and its progeny, a number of courts have recognized that an award of statutory damages may violate due process if the amount of the award is "out of all reasonable proportion" to the actual harm caused by a defendant's conduct.[T]hese cases are doubtlessly correct to note that a punitive and grossly excessive statutory damages award violates the Due Process Clause....."Hon. Marilyn Hall Patel, Dist. Judge, N.D. California, June 1, 2005, In re Napster, 2005 US DIST Lexis 11498, 2005 WL 1287611
"[P]laintiffs can cite to no case foreclosing the applicability of the due process clause to the aggregation of minimum statutory damages proscribed under the Copyright Act. On the other hand, 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....."-Hon. David G. Trager, Senior District Judge, Eastern Dist. New York, November 9, 2006, UMG v. Lindor, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83486, 2006 WL 3335048
"'[S]tatutory damages should bear some relation to actual damages suffered'....(citations omitted) and 'cannot be divorced entirely from economic reality'". -Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin, Dist. Judge, Southern Dist. New York, August 19, 2008, Yurman v. Castaneda
"The Court would be remiss if it did not take this opportunity to implore Congress to amend the Copyright Act to address liability and damages in peer to peer network cases.... The defendant is an individual, a consumer. She is not a business. She sought no profit from her acts..... [T]he damages awarded in this case are wholly disproportionate to the damages suffered by Plaintiffs." -Hon. Michael J. Davis, District Judge, Dist. Minnesota, September 24, 2008, Capitol v. Thomas
"If there is an asymmetry in copyright, it is one that actually favors defendants. The successful assertion of a copyright confirms the plaintiff's possession of an exclusive, and sometimes very valuable, right, and thus gives it an incentive to spend heavily on litigation. In contrast, a successful defense against a copyright claim, when it throws the copyrighted work into the public domain, benefits all users of the public domain, not just the defendant; he obtains no exclusive right and so his incentive to spend on defense is reduced and he may be forced into an unfavorable settlement." US Court of Appeals, 7th Cir., July 9, 2008, Eagle Services Corp. v. H20 Industrial Services, Inc., 532 F.3d 620
"Customers who download music and movies for free would not necessarily spend money to acquire the same product.....RIAA’s request problematically assumes that every illegal download resulted in a lost sale."
-Hon. James P. Jones, Dist. Judge, Western Dist. Virginia, November 7, 2008, USA v. Dove