Monday, September 28, 2009

Lava v Amurao appeal argued on September 23rd, decision reserved

I attended the argument of the appeal in Lava Records v. Amurao on September 23rd.

The Court reserved decision.

During the appellant's initial argument, and the appellees' opposing argument, the questions of the judges focused on the specific facts of the case, primarily (a) a letter Mr. Amurao had sent prior to the lawsuit incorrectly indicating that "we" had engaged in file sharing, even though he himself had never engaged in it, and (b) Mr. Amurao's testimony at his deposition.

However, when Mr. Amurao's attorney, Richard A. Altman, rose for the rebuttal argument, the focus of the Court's questioning shifted to the type of evidence the RIAA had garnered prior to pursuing Mr. Amurao, i.e., the MediaSentry activities.

None of the members of the Court appeared familiar with those procedures. By the end of that final portion of the argument, however, they seemed to have understood that the MediaSentry investigation and subpoena could at best have led the RIAA to a computing device and to an an internet access account, but could not have identified an individual who had committed copyright infringement.




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Massachusetts cases to no longer be consolidated

An order was entered in Boston that the RIAA's Massachusetts cases are no longer to be consolidated:

Judge Nancy Gertner: Electronic ORDER entered: "Because of the number of cases and to facilitate judicial management, these cases will no longer be consolidated. All future filings should be filed in each defendants' respective case and no longer in the lead case." Associated Cases: 1:03-cv-11661-NG et al.(Gaudet, Jennifer)
[Ed. note. IMO this order comes about 6 years too late. IMO Judge Gertner's consolidation order was inconsistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and all it ever accomplished was to give the RIAA an even greater economic advantage than it ordinarily enjoyed, give it greater ex parte access to the Court, and give defendants the feeling that they had no chance at all. See Suggestion No. 7 in Beckerman, Ray, "Large Recording Companies vs. The Defenseless : Some Common Sense Solutions to the Challenges of the RIAA Litigations", The Judges Journal, American Bar Association, Summer 2008 Edition (Reprinted by Permission of the copyright owner, The American Bar Association) (PDF). -R.B.]



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Victoria A. Espinel nominated to be first White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator

According to this report in IP Watch, Victoria A. Espinel will be nominated to be the first White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.

[Ed. note. I have no information, one way or the other, on whether this is a good appointment. The fact that the RIAA and MPAA praised the appointment sounds ominous, but what are they supposed to do? Attack the appointment? So if anyone has information on Ms. Espinel's background, let me know about it in the comments to this post. Thanks. -R.B.]



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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Good article about Zoe Keating's success through the internet

Hat tip to my friend ZAGrrl on Twitter:

Interesting article by Sarah Lacy in TechCrunch about popular cellist Zoe Keating (zoecello on Twitter):

"Zoe Keating: Web Fame that Actually Translated to a Career"

[Ed. note. You can probably guess that my favorite passage is this one:

[S]he gets that the model for musicians is thoroughly broken and she revels in it. I asked if she would take a huge record deal if it came to her now and she said “no” before I could finish the question. “I would definitely do it myself because I don’t want to compromise,” she said.


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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Lava v Amurao attorneys fee appeal set for Sept 23 in 2nd Circuit

Rolando Amurao's appeal from a lower court order denying his motion for attorneys fees in Lava Records v. Amurao, is scheduled to be argued before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, on Wednesday, September 23rd, on the Court's 10:00 a.m. calendar (pdf).

The appeal was initially scheduled to be argued on May 19th, but was adjourned at the RIAA's request.

[Ed. note. The case presents a typical "throwing in the towel" scenario. Mr. Amurao was sued only because he was the person who paid the bills for the internet access account in question. Subsequently, after substantial litigation, his daughter testified that she had engaged in p2p file sharing. The RIAA thereafter withdrew the case against Mr. Amurao, but refused to reimburse him for his attorneys fees. -R.B.]

Here are copies of the briefs:

Appellant's Brief
Appellees' Brief
Appellant's Reply Brief

The courthouse is at 500 Pearl Street in Manhattan. The proceedings are open to the public.



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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Judge extends Tenenbaum's time to respond to plaintiffs' motion for judgment to October 5th

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Court granted defendant's motion for an extension of time, by extending his time to respond to plaintiffs' motion for judgment to October 5th:

Judge Nancy Gertner: Electronic ORDER entered granting [940] Motion for Extension of Time to 10 days after judgment to Respond to Plaintiffs' request for injunction by Joel Tenenbaum. "The Court construes counsel's motion as a motion for extension of time to respond to plaintiffs' motion for entry of judgment -- a judgment that will include any injunction that the Court decides to issue. The Court orders the defendant to file his objection to plaintiffs' motion for entry of judgment by October 5, 2009." (Gaudet, Jennifer)




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Monday, September 14, 2009

RIAA lawyers refuse extension of time in SONY v Tenenbaum

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, defendant has moved for an extension of time in which to oppose plaintiffs' motion for an injunction, after plaintiffs' lawyers rejected his request.

Defendant's motion for extension of time



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Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Plaintiffs move for entry of judgment in SONY v Tenenbaum

The plaintiffs have filed a motion for entry of judgment in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum.

Plaintiffs' motion for entry of judgment




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