Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Elektra v. Santangelo -- Case Closed Except for Defendant's Attorneys Fees

It is now official: the case against Patti Santangelo, Elektra v. Santangelo, in White Plains, New York, is now closed, except for Ms. Santangelo's right to claim attorneys fees. On April 9th Judge McMahon "so ordered" a stipulation dismissing the case, but giving Ms. Santangelo the right to pursue her claim for attorneys fees:

Stipulation and Order entered April 9, 2007, dismissing case with prejudice except for issue of defendant's entitlement to attorneys fees*

* Document published online at Internet Law & Regulation

Commentary & discussion:

p2pnet.net
LA Times.com

Keywords: digital copyright online download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs

5 comments:

Alter_Fritz said...

someone should give Judge McMahon the number of Judge West in case she has do deal with a plaintiff that needs to be given clear (and more importantly now) timely deadlines!

It would be a pitty if the innocent Mrs Santangelo must now wait again 2 years for the money.

AMD FanBoi said...

I expect now an endless round of filings and counter-filings over the seemingly trivial issue of attorney's fees. From what we've seen so far, this issue of fees alone may run longer than the original case as the RIAA throws everything they have against paying a penny to a person wrongfully sued. (Wrongfully sued, because they never had a valid case to present in the first place, and couldn't find one afterwards no matter how vexatiously they pursued it.)

Megan said...

I also fear that, if and when Ms. Santangelo recovers her attorney's fees, she'll need to immediately start again to aid the defense of her children.

The fact that Ms. Santangelo has prevailed does not remove the RIAA's interest in her children... if anything, it heightens it.

Anonymous said...

It's a shame that Santangelo couldn't have her kids get off in some kind of a bargain with the riaa...they're still facing years of problems I fear. Pity we all only have one life to live and some of us have to be subjected to this kind of "terror" that takes up so much time, energy and worry, just in the name of money.

StephenH said...

Good going, Patti for working to get this dismissed with prejudice. Now I hope that her children win as well. I also hope the judge awards attorneys fees.c