Wednesday, December 21, 2011

9th Circuit affirms judgment dismissing UMG's case against Veoh

Tip of the hat to Naomi Jane Gray, Esq., of Harvey Siskind LLP, who brought this to our attention.

In UMG Recordings v. Veoh Networks, the decision of the District Court dismissing the case on summary judgment, on the basis of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, has been affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.

Ninth Circuit Decision Affirming District Court granting of defendants' motion for summary judgment
September 11, 2009, District Court decision

[Ed. Note. Sadly, despite the meritlessness of UMG's case, it was able to force Veoh to spend so much money on legal fees that it succeeded in putting Veoh out of business. The courts need to recognize that merely enforcing the Digital Millenium Copyright Act safe harbor by costly nonsensical litigation of this nature is the same as not enforcing it at all. Few defendants have the money to spend that the RIAA seems content to waste pursuing frivolous claims. -R.B.]

Commentary & discussion:

Ars Technica
Aaron Sanders Law blog


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 Bookmark and Share

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know it sounds cynical, but I have to wonder if UMG/RIAA knew they had no case, but pursued the litigation specifically to bankrupt Veoh?
--Quiet Lurker

raybeckerman said...

Well, to be fair to the RIAA, the only way they could have known they had no case was if they had received competent legal advice.....

:)

I don't have the slightest doubt that they pursued this case, as they pursue all their cases, on a terror basis, not on a rule of law basis.

raybeckerman said...

I.e., they didn't care if they had a case or not. Bullies don't think about such niceties as right and wrong.

Anonymous said...

Silly me... I had assumed RIAA's counsel were sufficiently intelligent to knowingly flout/ignore/sidestep Rule 11 of the FRCP - you know, the one that discourages frivolous filings?

--Quiet Lurker