Another Wrongfully Accused Music Sharer?
from the don't-speak-Spanish dept
Following last month’s discovery that the RIAA wrongfully accused a woman who had no idea what Kazaa was, the EFF has now found another person they say was wrongfully accused of copyright infringement. The RIAA lawsuit claims that he was sharing hundreds of Latin songs, but the guy says he doesn’t know Spanish, doesn’t listen to Latin songs and doesn’t use Kazaa. As more of these turn up, it will be interesting to see how the RIAA does damage control. So far, they’ve just been quietly dropping the lawsuits (though, still putting the blame on the end user, rather than their tactics for tracking people down). I wonder if the wrongfully accused folks can turn around and sue the RIAA for putting them through all this trouble without any real evidence.
Comments on “Another Wrongfully Accused Music Sharer?”
re: suing them back
Somewhere I believe I read that no, if a suit is wrongfully filed the DMCA protects folks like the RIAA somehow. I could be wrong but I believe I read that somewhere.
Re: suing them back
I wouldn’t doubt it. The DMCA should be forever used as an example of how government bodies can become so short-sighted and lobby-driven to the point where they actually hurt their own ability to manage people.
It’s like the US Govt’s achilles heel.
Re: suing them back
I could be wrong but I believe I read that somewhere.
IANAL, however after thoroughly scouring through the text, I couldn’t find anywhere where this was true, in a matter of fact, Sec 512 (f) specifically outlaws knowingly misrepresenting that material or activity is infringing or that material or activity was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification.
The question for the judge is whether or not the RIAA knowingly misrepresented the material or activity…which may be impossible to prove.