20 July 2007

TGIS: Thank God It's Schadenfreude! (124)

This week's joy in the misfortune of others comes courtesy of The Register (from Tuesday, July 17; link good at time of posting):
In what appears to be the first known case of its kind, the RIAA has been ordered to pay a defendant nearly $70,000 in attorney fees and costs after unsuccessfully suing for copyright infringement.

. . . .

[T]he RIAA filed suit against Deborah Foster in November 2004. Her adult daughter Amanda was added to the complaint in July 2005 when it was indicated that she had access to the internet account. Because Amanda failed to defend herself against the complaint, the RIAA won the case against her by default.

The ruling against Deborah was then amended to allege she "contributorily and/or vicariously" infringed on copyrighted recordings.

. . . .

On July 13, 2006 the Oklahoma court ordered the RIAA's claims against Foster be dismissed with prejudice and ruled she was eligible to be awarded attorneys fees. The court was skeptical that "an internet-illiterate parent, who does not know Kazaa from a kazoo" could be liable for copyright infringement committed by someone else using her internet account.

. . . .

The court eventually whittled the award down to $68,685.23 in a 14-page document which itemized her expenses.

[Previous TGIS]

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