Court Deals RIAA Setback in File Sharing Suit
Category: InternetPosted: April 30, 2008 06:55PM
Author: Nemo
A U.S. District Judge denied a request by the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) for a summary judgment against an Arizona couple accused of illegally sharing music files through the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing service. RIAA asserted the presence of the music files in a shared folder constitutes copyright infringement. The defendant, Jeffery Howell, claims he did not place the music in the shared folder but that it was automatically put there by the system. The judge denied the motion on the grounds that it was unclear whether Howell had put the files in a shared folder and said that, even if he had, making files available does not meet the requirements for copyright infringement or distribution. MedaiaSentry, an agent hired by the RIAA, was able to see the files in the shared folder, but unless someone does actually download the content, there is precedence in other court ruling that this does not necessarily meet the standards for distribution or infringement. While this represents a small victory for the defendants, they still must face a trial sometime later this year.
