Copyright Law

New RICO class action claims asserted against RIAA in St. Louis in Atlantic Recording v. Raleigh

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

In Atlantic Recording v. Raleigh, a St. Louis, Missouri, case in which the Court dismissed defendant's counterclaims in August, new, more detailed, amended class action counterclaims have been filed, alleging claims for:

-RICO
-Fraud
-Conspiracy
-Trespass
-Prima Facie Tort
-violation of the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act.

The amended counterclaims specifically reference Capitol Records v. Foster and several other cases.

The predicate acts for the RICO count were extortion, mail fraud, and wire fraud.

The class on behalf of whom the claims are asserted is all persons residing in the United States who:

a. were falsely accused by Counterclaim Defendants and RIAA of downloading copyrighted sound recordings owned by the ounterclaim Defendants and making them available for distribution or mass distribution over a P2P network and who incurred costs and damages including legal fees in defense of such false claims; and/or

b. whose computers used in interstate commerce and/or communication were accessed by Counterclaim Defendants without permission or authority through conduct involving interstate communication and from which information was obtained in violation of such person?s rights within two years prior to the date of the filing of this amended counterclaim.

Amended Answer and Counterclaims

Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on November 20, 2008 (boomark / email).