Appeals Court Knocks Out "Innocent Infringement" 232
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "A 3-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has ruled that a Texas teenager was not entitled to invoke the innocent infringement defense in an RIAA file-sharing case where she had admittedly made unauthorized downloads of all of the 16 song files in question, and had not disputed that she had 'access' to the CD versions of the songs which bore copyright notices. The 11-page decision (PDF) handed down in Maverick Recording v. Harper seems to equate 'access' with the mere fact that CDs on sale in stores had copyright notices, and that she was free to go to such stores. In my opinion, however, that is not the type of access contemplated in the statute, as the reference to 'access' in the statute was intended to obviate the 'innocence' defense where the copy reproduced bore a copyright notice. The court also held that the 'making available' issue was irrelevant to the appeal, and that the constitutional argument as to excessiveness of damages had not been preserved for appeal."
Re:Not really the point (Score:1, Funny)
Then I'd say intimidation can work both ways. Attack the RIAA lawyer directly, I'd say a "stern warning" would suffice. Failing that, assassinate him.
Of course, it goes without saying that RIAA executives and their families must be executed without appeal.
Let's see how many bodies they need before they get the message. Remember, even their money cannot revive them.
Re:No bling for the sing bitches. (Score:3, Funny)
The RIAA is the best argument in the world why you SHOULD be buying music -- NON-RIAA MUSIC (see RIAA Radar).
Actually, I specifically get as many RIAA and MPAA-sponsored media as I can and then offer it for free to as many people as I can. Sometimes I even leave DVDs filled with AVI files of the top 20 movies of the week from Piratebay just laying around on buses and such. The way I figure it, a handful of terrorists only managed to bring down four planes and three buildings at a cost of a few billion. By our legal system's reakoning, I've caused about $14.6 trillion dollars worth of damage so far. I'm very disappointed, because I figured by now I should be the most wanted woman in this country. And yet boys never call me back. :(