Juge: "You cannot sue for making songs available"

[Lite]

A federal judge in New York has dealt the Recording Industry Association of America a setback in its thousands of lawsuits over piracy on peer-to-peer networks.

In a widely anticipated decision, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas ruled Monday to reject the RIAA's claim that a Kazaa user who merely "made available" copyrighted music necessarily violated the law. Rather, he said, the RIAA would have to demonstrate that unlawful copying actually took place.

"Plaintiffs' allegations--insofar as plaintiffs wish to hold defendant liable for acts of infringement other than actual downloading and/or distribution--fail to state a claim," Karas wrote.

This is not necessarily fatal to the RIAA's lawsuit against Tenise Barker (referred to as Denise Barker in some court documents) that will continue in the Southern District of New York. That's because the music labels also have alleged that she actually did distribute copyrighted works--meaning that if they can prove that happened, which is more difficult, they can still win.

View: Original Article

[voodoohippie]

Glad to hear the RIAA got a slap in the face. this is what these children have been more than deserving since they tried this chicken shit sue them all campaign. If they would have allowed Ad supported file sharing they could have rolled in the dough and also made great pr. Now they are exposed for the crooks that they are. So I say share away and show these bastards that the hobbyists will always prevail against corrupt government ethics. Just as the phone phreakers beat the phone companies into submission, so too will the tech savvy people of the world beat the RIAA and MPAA into their senses.

[demonon]

Hell ya!

Take that RIAA!