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RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has been involved in a number of cases in the U.S. related to file sharing. One of the most famous cases of RIAA was against Jammie Thomas. The case created a lot of hype due to the volume of fines. The news was covered on a national scale. What people may not know is that there are a lot of cases which were not won by RIAA. The only reason behind it is that those cases were not given that much coverage; you can call it RIAA’s strong lobby with the media or ignorance on media’s part.
One of such cases was Atlantic Vs Tanya Anderson. The case took more than 3 years to finish. In the end RIAA dropped the case with prejudice. This means that the RIAA admitted they were wrong on the case. Similarly there was another case against Foster, an alleged file sharer. Both of these cases saw negligence from the media.
According to the copyright laws, the prevailing side can earn the legal fees and costs incurred during the period of that case. This is what Foster and Tanya Anderson did effectively. Foster was given a sum of $68,000 where as Foster’s case was a little different. The later had to struggle a bit as RIAA refused to pay in the first place, but later on they agreed. Initially RIAA had to pay $107,834 but due to the delay in payment, they had to pay the interest and the total amount paid to Foster was $107,951.
Though the Atlantic Vs Anderson case comes to an end, there still is Anderson Vs Atlantic as Anderson is taking on her former compliant. On the other hand Thomas has been hinted a mistrial by the judge Michael Davis. He is the same judge who gave Thomas a $222,000 fine for distributing 24 songs unlawfully.
According to judge Davis:
Certainly, I have sent a signal to both sides of where I’m headed.
Though RIAA’s attorney has suggested the judge not to disturb last year’s decision, it is unlikely to see that decision not suspended.
Both the cases were lost by RIAA and they admitted their mistake. If they knew they were wrong why did they go so far? Tell us what you think of this.
Image source: BusinessWeek
