Copyright Law

RIAA granted ex parte discovery for injunctive relief only, but is using information obtained for purposes of extracting monetary settlements

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

Thanks to LA attorney Lisa Borodkin for alerting us to this story.

In Motown Record Co. v. Doe in Los Angeles, California, one of a group of cases targeting USC students, the District Judge Manuel L. Real granted the RIAA's ex parte discovery motion, but ruled that the discovery was "for the sole purpose of obtaining injunctive relief pursuant to the complaint filed herein protecting plaintiff?s right under the Copyright Act."

According to Lisa's article in the LAist, even though the Judge had ordered that the information was to be used solely for the purpose of obtaining injunctive relief, the RIAA has been calling the identified students and their families seeking monetary settlements.

October 7, 2008, Order granting discovery solely for purpose of obtaining injunctive relief

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Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on December 15, 2008 (boomark / email).