Court Appoints Pro Bono Counsel For RIAA Defendant 123
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In what could be a turning point in the RIAA's litigation campaign, a Michigan judge has decided to appoint pro bono counsel to represent college student Brittany Kruger, who is being sued by the RIAA in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Kruger. As this article points out, 'if other judges follow suit, things will change dramatically.' That is because the RIAA's entire litigation campaign is based upon economic inequality of the litigants: almost none of those sued by the RIAA can afford legal representation, and the RIAA has a huge economic incentive to fight cases to the death, while the defendants have no economic incentive greater than the 'settlement' amount, which they often pay even when entirely innocent. If the courts follow the lead of District Judge Timothy P. Greeley [PDF], and appoint pro bono legal counsel, the RIAA will no longer be able to achieve the easy pickings default judgments and 'settlements' it's routinely obtained in the past."
Faulty assumption? (Score:5, Insightful)
This assumes the appointed pro-bono counsel is competent and interested in the welfare of his/her client, which may or may not be the case.
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Re:Faulty assumption? (Score:5, Insightful)
Pro bono is not the same thing as public defender.
Public defenders are for criminal cases--this is civil.
There are lawyers in big firms who take on cases for the public good. These lawyers have an enhanced sense of social responsibility. Pro bono is short for "pro bono publico" (for the benefit of the public).
The pro bono lawyer will probably be skilled and ethical and not simply out to make a name for himself/herself. The defendant won't get absurd theatricals and stupid gamesmanship, but will get decent fair representation.
That alone should be a pain for the RIAA.
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Pro Bono is short for Pro Bono Meo.
Lawyers take pro bono cases to gain recognition.
You want to be a PARTNER of this firm? Hmm, well, you don't have much pro bono experience...
It's like high school kids doing community service.
They don't give a shit about the community, they give a shit about their college applications.
Re:Faulty assumption? (Score:4, Insightful)
Your statement is not correct. I know of many lawyers who take pro bono cases because they think that it is the right thing to do.
Re:Faulty assumption? (Score:5, Interesting)
That said, by most attorneys' third year at the mega-firms that have very pro-bono-friendly policies, they fit the pattern you described to a tee. Youthful idealism gives way to wanting more status symbols fairly rapidly when you work at those places.
Re:"As an attorney" (Score:2)
Offtopic, but Dottians should make a list of those who AAL so that famous acronym can DIAF.
Really, is that so tough?
1. Review poster handle
2. Review Resident Counsel List
3. Profit!
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I don't follow, where's the ???
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and not simply out to make a name for himself/herself.
Lionel Hutz: "Murder one!?! Wow, even if I lose I'll be famous!"
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What? Lawyers with a heart *and* a conscience? Unpossible!
Can someone check if Satan plays Duke Nukem Forever because it's too cold to go outside in hell?
Re:Faulty assumption? (Score:5, Insightful)
This assumes the appointed pro-bono counsel is competent and interested in the welfare of his/her client, which may or may not be the case.
Assuming they are competent, all I can say is that It's about time.
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As long as they are more competent than a collage student it's a plus.
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As long as they are more competent than a collage student it's a plus.
Yeah, I wouldn't want an art major taking my case either...
Re:Faulty assumption? (Score:5, Funny)
Of course not, he is pro Bono.
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"This assumes the appointed pro-bono counsel is competent and interested in the welfare of his/her client, which may or may not be the case."
It's a hard thing to prove, but if you can prove it, the attorney can be disbarred and/or fined (and even jailed) for contempt.
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The interesting thing is that there is no requirement for a lawyer to do anything pro-bono. They pretty much have to volunteer for it. So I'm not sure why we would be worried about someone not representing their clients when pro bono operations are more or less either some sort of ego stroking "look at me, I helped those who needed it" or are looking for exposure of some sort to further their career (again, look at me, I did a great job helping this person).
I think that some people have this pro bono just a
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I think that some people have this pro bono just as confused with a public defendant as they do RIAA's civil cases with a criminal prosecution.
Civil cases are worse than criminal case's, at least for the defendant as we have seen all it takes in a civil case is an accusation.
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Outstanding lawyers may choose to take on these cases pro bono, especially at the beginning, for the publicity. But even if you get a retarded lawyer, it's probably better than the average college student strolling into court without a clue. I mean, most lawyers will go on Westlaw or Lexis and crib off of the successful RIAA cases. Soon, they'll probably all trot out the same arguments regarding making available =/= distributing and the Media Sentry stuff. I can imagine RIAA just lowering their settlement d
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Actually I don't think it's as important as you think.
If you're faced with $bazillions in 'potential' fines and offered a settlement of $buy-a-car instead of paying a lawyer $buy-a-new-mercedes ... well we know which way many people have gone.
Instead if you offer even mediocre legal counsel the person is much more likely to try for the newly available fourth choice of $nah-nah.
Having to go to trial on even 20% of the extortion threats (oh, sorry, pre-trial settlement offers) would suddenly make the whole pr
sigh... (Score:5, Insightful)
I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I just don't care any more. The RIAA has worn me out. I hate all music now. I never want to buy any of their crap again.
I'll just eat the magical fruit and toot myself to death.
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ironically, my music consumption has gone way down as well. i used to listen to mp3s in the car but cbc talk radio has taken over my commute.
result ? no music.
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The RIAA has worn me out. I hate all music now. I never want to buy any of their crap again.
I have been saying for *YEARS* (long before the RIAA was pulling the bullshit they are now) that you should be listening to free music. There are plenty of bands that allow the release of their live stuff on the web and no, we're not talking about crappy Indy artists that you've never heard about before. We're talking real bands that care more about their fans and who actually tour rather than live off the royalties
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you should be listening to free music. There are plenty of ... real bands that care more about their fans and who actually tour rather than live off the royalties of overprocessed studio shit.
...
I suggest supporting those bands by buying their records
You're a hard one to please.
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Bill: Any listening suggestions for an old deadhead?
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archive.org's Live Music Archive [archive.org] or http://bt.etree.org [etree.org] should get you where you need to go.
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These bands do have labels, many are RIAA (The Grateful Dead), but they also allow their shows to trade freely. Apparently I didn't make myself clear, hope that helps.
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Free as in beer, or free as in speech?
You should get out more often. ;-) You've probably never heard of them because they are independent - or not American. Nor does that make them "crappy". My favourite b
i'm sorry (Score:2)
magical fruit tooting is copyright material under the protection of the recording industry association of america. unless you cease and desist infringing via magical fruit toots we will be forced to bring you to litigation
sincerely,
Magical Fruit and the Toots, Inc.
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I know how you feel. And I know how they feel:
Plenty more where you came from.
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If anyone needs me, I'll be listening to "Are You From Dixie, 'Cause I'm From Dixie Too" and "Be My Little Baby Bumblebee" until the cows come home.
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Weird, my consumption of music has gone way up.
$40 a year for Pandora and I get a high quality, on demand, just random enough stream of music 8+ hours a day, 7 days a week. The amount of new music I listen to boggles my mind... I hate the *IAA as much as the next, but you have to admit that our options for purchasing music have opened up recently. Digital downloads from Amazon and iTunes along with streaming services like Pandora and Last.fm are starting to grab hold. People are fed up with the music indust
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check http://riaaradar.com too (Score:5, Informative)
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And, alas, until the beast is slain, they'll attribute those dollars to the Evil Content Pirates(tm).
We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.
Re:check http://riaaradar.com too (Score:4, Insightful)
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Any band that has signed with a major label since Napster was shut down is complicit.
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Any band that has signed with a major label since Napster was shut down is complicit.
I agree with the fact of their complicity but not with the degree. Most bands sign with major labels because it gives them greater income, greater exposure, and an overall greater reward for their years of hard work in getting to that point. Don't punish the artists who are actually creating art just because they are part of a system that gives them no choice for ultimate success other than signing with a major label. Punish the source of the problem, not a fellow victim.
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Hey, you sign a deal with the devil, that's what you get.
There are a few successful acts that did not sign with the big guys. Bright Eyes comes to mind. In fact, the number 5 album at Amazon right now is Bryan Sutton, which is ranked "Safe" by RIAA Radar. A harder path to be certain, but I'll actually respect those guys.
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Yeah, they should realize that they are not signing on to the good life - but you have to remember that most of the time these bands are starry-eyed kids. It's rare that they are savvy enough to understand what is going on.
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Buying used takes a used copy off the market (making other people more likely to seek a new copy) and probably funds whoever bought the copy in the first place (making it easier for them to buy more new music).
You can't buy something and simultaneously not participate in the market for it.
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Buy used CDs instead whenever possible
While that is certainly better than buy new RIAA CDs, it still doesn't completely eliminate the problem. If enough people buy used, it just increases the price of used discs. The more expensive used discs are, the more incentive there is for someone to buy a new disc and listen to it for a while and eventually resell it. The less they lose by selling it the more likely the are to buy it new. In fact, it might even cause this hypothetical buyer to purchase many more new CDs than the would otherwise becau
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Buy used CDs instead whenever possible
Buying used CDs will most likely result in a net benefit for the labels, because the person who sold you his/her used CD will promptly go to the store and buy some other (RIAA) CD.
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Their solution is "boycott artists on major labels". Don't buy them new, don't buy them used, don't listen to them.
No pirating necessary.
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Their solution is "boycott artists on major labels". Don't buy them new, don't buy them used, don't listen to them.
No pirating necessary.
Exactly. This is what I would have answered the GP, if you hadn't preceded me.
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That was depressing... Most of the albums I own were released by members of the RIAA.
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Excellent news (Score:5, Insightful)
its great news, but doesn't fix the problem.
I guess now all the RIAA will do is shift their efforts to people that earn too much to get Pro Bono, but still dont earn enough to be able to defend themselves against being hounded with litigation. In fact this is probably most of us.
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Just because someone makes a decent amount of money does not mean that they have discretionary income to throw around.
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Right, but either you can realistically afford a lawyer or you can't. If paying a lawyer means you won't have enough money for food, I'd say that qualifies as "can't". If there's no specific income requirement, I would assume that it's up to the judge on whether or not you qualify for court-appointed pro bono counsel (I also assume that if you yourself can convince a lawyer to defend you for free, the court has no say in the matter).
Plus these cases are more expensive than they need to be because of the RIAA tactics. They commence cases without proper evidence; they press cases even against people they know to be innocent; they do not withdraw cases until after the defendant has incurred excessive attorneys fees; they stonewall discovery, forcing unnecessary motion practice; they refuse to compromise on anything; they try to keep everything confidential, so it will not be available to lawyers in other cases.
Re:Excellent news (Score:4, Insightful)
Someone who makes a decent middle-class salary may not have the means to add legal counsel to the list of bills. Just because someone makes a decent amount of money does not mean that they have discretionary income to throw around.
Almost nobody can afford to expend hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees, which is what the RIAA makes sure a contested case will cost.
Idea (Score:5, Interesting)
What if we created a union of RIAA suit defendants? So we'd all pre-emptively buy in to a reasonable number - say enough money to go to court against RIAA if they sued 5% of everyone in the union. So say there's 1000 members, they'd contribute enough to the pool so that if 50 of the members get sued, they should have enough resources to go to court. Every time a case is lost against the RIAA the defendant will have to reimburse the pool.
I think this would level the playing field too. The idea is that everyone who is sued and is in this union is able to defend, instead of succumbing to debt. And the pool is only losing money proportional to how much the RIAA is losing. And if the RIAA legitimately have a case, the pool doesn't get diminished.
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You seriously think 1000 people could match the funding of the RIAA dollar for dollar?
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That's a good point. And I don't have a solution to that. I imagine it'd be possible to get a big enough pool going that this shouldn't be a big problem.
In the end, I don't think this is anything sustainable. I believe it is more like a weapon against the RIAA in a war of attrition. The purpose of the war, of course, is to get them to stop shotgunning cases based on the idea that defendants can only afford to settle.
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i like the idea. Almost like insurance. Making it work would be tricky. Seems a bit like hiring an army to protect us from the mafia. Paying a shark to protect us from the other sharks.
i'd rather see a class action suit to shut down RIAA or reimburse their victims for abusing our legal system.
Re:Idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Idea (Score:4, Funny)
For some reason this reminded me of the dialogs (and the dialogue) that comes up when you discover something in the old Civilization games. I even heard it in the voice of that narrator.
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Ruining? Sounds like a much better weekend than some alternatives, like lawnmowing, watching football, and decorating...
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Congratulations, you invented legal insurance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_Expenses_Insurance [wikipedia.org] Want a cookie?
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> What if we created a union of RIAA suit defendants?
Because it would probably be cheaper to just buy music?
c.
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Could give way to an interesting class action [counter-] suit of sorts. IANAL
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what if we actually paid for music?
Just an idea
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Original Motion (Score:5, Interesting)
"Additionally, because criminal behavior on the part of the Plaintiffs may have occurred, I require assistance for qualified counsel appointed by the Courts."
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Excellent. Maybe this will keep it in a civil court, where it belongs.
Fair's Fair (Score:5, Funny)
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Mary Bono, actually.
Meh (Score:3, Funny)
U2 is overrated.
Bono (Score:1)
lawl (Score:1, Funny)
She said she'll take the case pro boner.
Pro Bono is good? (Score:1)
Can't she just ask her uncle Freddy...? (Score:2)
...to, you know, "haunt" the RIAA a bit?
Or is Freddy friends with other demons from "deeeep down under"? ^^
Say, does NYCL work pro bono? (Score:2)
Have I got a case for you! :-)
U2 or not U2 that is the question (Score:1)
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You may be pro Bono and that is your choice. I, however, think he is a meddlesome turd.
Well. He is dead you know. Something about skiing and a tree. Not that he was greatly missed.
I hope this happens (Score:2)
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Because EVERYONE is innocent, aren't they?
Yes, indeed, until proven guilty in court by a preponderance of evidence. Nobody's claiming that file sharing is right or wrong here: what's wrong is the way the RIAA has chosen to combat their perceived enemy. The reality is that current communications technology does not really offer them a way to gain reliable evidence of wrongdoing, at least not without resorting to old-fashioned, expensive and non-automated investigative techniques. You know, the kind that involve licensed private investigators and so