Friday, December 19, 2008

RIAA claim not to have filed new cases "for months" is false

According to a report on Wired.com, the RIAA spokesman claims that the RIAA has not filed any new lawsuits "for months"; according to the Wall Street Journal report the RIAA stopped filing mass lawsuits "early this fall"; and the Associated Press was apparently told that the RIAA had stopped bringing new lawsuits in August.

Being very familiar with the RIAA's penchant for "misspeaking", even when under oath, I investigated the matter a bit, and learned that a large number of suits have been brought by the RIAA quite recently, one as recently as this Monday. Here are just a few. Those marked green were contributed by some of our great readers:

Atlantic Recording v. Williams 08-1710 W.D. Pennsylvania 12/15/08
Sony BMG Music v. Linus 08-14413 S.D. Florida 12/11/08

Arista Records v. Estrada 08-8135 C.D. California 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Haralambos 08-8129 C.D. California 12/10/08
SONY BMG Music v. Estrada 08-2682 D. Colorado 12/10/08
Interscope Records v. Doe 6 08-1882 D. Connecticut 12/10/08
Arista Records v. Doe 4 08-1877 D. Connecticut 12/10/08
Interscope Records v. Doe 5 08-1284 D. Connecticut 12/10/08
Interscope Records v. Doe 2 08-1878 D. Connecticut 12/10/08
Interscope Records v. Doe 3 08-1879 D. Connecticut 12/10/08
Capitol Records v. Fowler 08-2141 D. District of Columbia 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Mekawi 08-2142 D. District of Columbia 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Hensley 08-534 M.D. Florida 12/10/08
Interscope Records v. Jackson 08-544 N.D. Florida 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Blueford 08-119 M.D. Georgia 12/10/08
Warner Bros. Records v. Umbaugh 08-118 M.D. Georgia 12/10/08
SONY BMG Music v. Simms 08-3728 N.D. Georgia 12/10/08
Warner Bros. Records v. Wade 08-3727 N.D. Georgia 12/10/08
Capitol Records v. Williams-Ali 08-156 S.D. Iowa 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Decort 08-7053 N.D. Illinois 12/10/08
SONY BMG Music v. Shane 08-7055 N.D. Illinois 12/10/08
SONY BMG Music v. Byers 08-189 S.D. Indiana 12/10/08
Capitol Records v. Trusty 08-190 S.D. Indiana 12/10/08
Elektra Entertainment v. Maphet 08-1386 D. Kansas 12/10/08
Atlantic Recording v. Sanderson 08-1385 D. Kansas 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Gulledge 08-cv-00973-MHT-TFM M.D. Alabama 12/10/08
Warner Bros. Records Kelley 08-cv-02295-CLS N.D. Alabama 12/10/08
SONY BMG Music v. Van Ornum 08-cv-04205-JLH E.D. Arkansas 12/10/08
Interscope Records v. Tabor 08-cv-03068-JLH W.D. Arkansas 12/10/08
BMG Music v. O'Brien 08-cv-02244-HRH D. Arizona 12/10/08
Priority Records v. Easterling 08-cv-08131-PA-JTL C.D. California 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Ibarzabal 08-cv-08136-R-SH C.D. California 12/10/08
Interscope Records v. Doe 4 08-cv-01880-JBA D. Connecticut 12/10/08
Arista Records v. Doe 2 08-cv-01874-CFD D. Connecticut 12/10/08
Arista Records v. Doe 3 08-cv-01876-SRU D. Connecticut 12/10/08
UMG Recordings v. Burmeister 08-cv-02295-MPM-DGB C.D. Illinois 12/10/08

Here are the most recent cases I found involving multiple John Does, which were filed the week before:

Warner Bros. Records v. Does 1-4 08-cv-01425-HA D. Oregon 12/5/08
UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Does 08-cv-00717-TCK-PJC N.D. Oklahoma 12/5/08
UMG Recordings v. Does 1-3 08-cv-00139-DLB E.D. Kentucky 12/4/08

The cases were filed 12/10/08 and are all from Central Michigan University. They are as follows:
Sony BMG v. Lugo 2:2008cv15102 Bay City Michigan (Central Michigan University-Mt.Pleasant Mich)
UMG v. Rivera 1:2008cv15101 Bay City Michigan (Central Michigan University-Mt.Pleasant Mich)
Sony BMG v. Mack 1:2008cv15104 Bay City Michigan (Central Michigan University-Mt.Pleasant Mich)
Capital v. Pogue 1:2008cv15104 Bay City Michigan (Central Michigan University-Mt.Pleasant Mich)
Filed on 12/5/2008, from Oakland County Michigan through the Federal Courthouse in Detroit Mi.
Psychopathic Records v. Anderson 2:2008cv15034


Commentary & discussion:

Wall Street Journal Online -- Comments Section
p2pnet.net
Slashdot
Trading Card Central
Investor Village
Fred Benenson's Blog
popmatters
ynet (Hebrew)
WinExtra
Digital Music News
pcinpact.com (French)
yahoo! france actualites (French)
TechDirt
Daily Tech
The Daily Swarm
20minutes.fr (French)
Wired.com
Intellectual Property Watch
Hard OCP
p2pnet.net (12/23/08)
tgdaily
yahoo! tech
The Moderate Voice
MySanAntonio.com
doom9







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

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm...It seems that the RIAA's idea of the truth is something you make up and say confidently...

I have to say I'm surprised at their gumption...and more surprised that I had assumed for even a second that they were telling the truth. Foolish, foolish me. It is just hard to believe that an institution under such a public mission would be so cynically contemptuous of ever making averments actually rooted in honest and fair dealing, IMO, and they seem to count on that, as if they need merely keep the quantity and speed lies going at sufficient momentum that no consequences can ever catch up to them. Quite appalling. And quite in line with their previous actions.

Eric said...

I don't see the RIAA having filed a single case. Of course they are 100% "correct" and 100% deceptive so it's business as usual.

Marc W. Bourgeois said...

A few newer cases than those listed (Filed as recently as this past Monday):

ATLANTIC RECORDING CORPORATION et al v. WILLIAMS - Filed 12/15/08 - PA Western case no 2:2008cv01710

Sony BMG Music Entertainment et al v. Linus - Filed 12/11/08 - FL Southern case no 2:2008cv14413

There were also a host of others than those listed above filed last Wednesday in numerous courts around the nation.

-Marc

raybeckerman said...

Well it was only through the most complex investigations that I was able to learn of their 'misspeaking'. I actually had to go on PACER.

Marc W. Bourgeois said...

It appears that on 12/10 the recording companies filed 48 lawsuits against individuals, and 8 of these suits involved a "Doe" defendant.

Alter_Fritz said...

Ray, Ray I'm a bit disapointed by you that you fall for their trick.

It is like the "shared a room" vs. "roommates" episode what the "worthless duck" spokesperson were speaking.

The RIAA (!) never ever (as far as I'm aware) has filed any lawsuit in their name
So of course they could claim without that it would be a lie that they stopped doing it.

It is Atlantic Records (just to name one) and others that are suing not this ominoese lawyer outfit "RIAA".

But maybe next time the shady "I'm not with RIAA anymore" wannebe Dentist Oppenheim, that claimed in the recent letter to that board to have the recording companies as his clients, will sue people in the name of his group instead of Sony-BMG, EMI, Universal and Warner.

Anonymous said...

Every "Pre-litigation"-extortion- settlement Letter from HRO references...
RIAA Lawsuit. But I guess if their lips are moving, there lying.

Anonymous said...

Guess the RIAA simply doesn't learn -- each time they try to lie they forget they have near the full force of the Internet, and its ability to find and disseminate information, to deal with.

Not Telling said...

Sounds like they meant that they haven't filed any RIAA vs Does 1-1000 lawsuits in months.

But they are still filing lawsuits against individuals resulting from the Does lawsuits.

raybeckerman said...

Multiple John Doe cases were filed on 12/4 and 12/5. Look, hundreds of cases were filed this fall; I just collected a few samples. If you want to quibble, go to PACER, look up all the cases that have been brought and give us a list. You will find hundreds and you will find a number of multiple John Doe cases. That would be more helpful than trying to justify the RIAA's lie.

Anonymous said...

The RIAA lies yet again and this is news...why?

{The Common Man Speaking}

Unknown said...

it's news because Media outlets are reporting it as not a lie.