Judge Refuses to Punish Lawyer for Anti-RIAA Blogging

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[Kosh GTO]

An attorney defending against a music-piracy lawsuit didn’t cross ethical bounds by filing motions broadly attacking the recording industry and posting them on his blog, a magistrate judge has ruled, rejecting demands from the RIAA for monetary sanctions.

picture-19Attorney Ray Beckerman was “less than forthcoming at times” in defending a client against an RIAA lawsuit, but the music industry’s concerns were “largely overstated,” New York Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy wrote Friday (.pdf).

“Although defendant’s counsel took an unusually aggressive stance and, at times, veered into hyperbole and gratuitous attacks on the recording industry as a whole, I do not find clear evidence of bad faith on counsel’s part,”

Levy also ruled that the RIAA, which has sued 30,000 individuals, was not a vexatious litigant, shooting down Beckerman’s counter-complaint against his courtroom opponents. “Plaintiffs have doggedly pursued their copyright infringement claim, but I find no evidence of undue vexatiousness or ill motive on their part,” Levy wrote.

The opinion is not binding on the federal judge who presided over the RIAA’s case against Marie Lindor, Beckerman’s client who was accused of making copyrighted music available on the Kazaa file sharing program. After five depositions and three years of legal maneuvering, the RIAA has dropped the case against the woman whom Beckerman said has “never turned on a computer.”

The RIAA claimed evidence tampering thwarted its case.

“I’m gratified that the motion was denied. It was based on gross misstatements of fact. I would have preferred for the judge’s language to be stronger. But the result is the same,” Beckerman said during a brief telephone interview.

Beckerman, a New York attorney, runs the Recording Industry vs The People blog, which takes every opportunity to criticize the music industry’s litigation arm.

The RIAA, in seeking sanctions, said Beckerman “has maintained an anti-recording industry blog during the course of this case and has consistently posted virtually every one of his baseless motions on his blog seeking to bolster his public relations campaign and embarrass plaintiffs,” the RIAA wrote in court briefs. “Such vexatious conduct demeans the integrity of these judicial proceedings and warrants this imposition of sanctions.”

The RIAA claimed that Lindor, her family and Beckerman “intentionally provided false information, attempted to misdirect plaintiffs as to relevant facts and events, and concealed critical information and evidence regarding the infringement at issue.”




My Beef with the Riaa is: the copyrights for which the RIAA is fighting for do not belong to the RIAA they belong to individual artists. the RIAA is the labels lobby company??? Don’t the RIAA’s ridiculous demands directly against this attorney and his blog illustrate that the RIAA is a Cross dressing Bully??? And also notice the RIAA was unable to provide any actual evidence to support their claims… lol.  GTO

[Archangel]

The riaa/mpaa are like the bully's in school you try too avoid them but once in awhile their waiting for you and when you should have turned right you went left and now are being harassed and betting up and you are screwed. These guys have nothing better to do then stick their nose in business they shouldn't.

[Valkyrie]

The most disgraceful thing about these lawsuits is that they are using any funds they will to launch more lawsuits.  None of the money is ending up in the artists hands.  If it was, I would be likely to just settle if I was accused.