Category: Corporate Statism

RIAA

~ susie ~ 3 Comments

First of all, it infuriates me that the federal government is working as private cops for the RIAA. Think about how they pushed through the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and forced the music and computer industries to use copy protection.

It also maddens me because the Founders only allowed ten year copyrights, after which the rights were turned over to the general public, to benefit from the work.

It’s time to come up with a saner version of digital copyright, because this is crazy and wrong:

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota woman ordered to pay a recording industry trade group $1.5 million for illegally sharing music online doesn’t plan to pay those damages as her attorneys continue to argue the amount is unconstitutional, she said Thursday.

A federal jury found Wednesday that Jammie Thomas-Rasset, of Brainerd, must pay $62,500 per song — for a total of $1.5 million — for illegally violating copyrights on 24 songs. This was the third jury to consider damages in her case, and each has found that she must pay — though different amounts.

And after each time, the single mother of four has said she can’t pay.

“I can’t afford to pay any amount. It’s not a matter of won’t, it’s a matter of ‘I can’t,'” Thomas-Rasset said Thursday. “Any amount that I pay to them is money that I could use to feed my children. Any amount that I pay to them is money I could use to clothe my kids, and pay my mortgage so my kids have a place to sleep.”

The Recording Industry Association of America has said it found Thomas-Rasset shared more than 1,700 songs on the file-sharing site Kazaa, but it sued over 24 of them. RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth said the association made several attempts to settle with Thomas-Rasset, at first for $5,000, but Thomas-Rasset refused.

Duckworth said the RIAA was thankful the jury recognized the severity of Thomas-Rasset’s misconduct.

One of the main reasons I despise the RIAA is that I know how many artists have been screwed out of their copyrights and the money that goes with them — by the very same people who claim to be looking out for their interest.

This is like a bigtime Mafia chieftain complaining that a low-level crook is taking all his money.

If the RIAA (and the movie industry) are really all about protecting the artists, here’s a suggestion: adopt generally recognized standard accounting practices, so artists know exactly how much they’ve earned.

Because right now, they can’t — not without a subpoena.

RIAA

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

One of the main reasons I despise this group (and the willingness of the federal government to act as their private enforcers) is that I know how many artists have been screwed out of their copyrights and the money that goes with them.

This is like a bigtime Mafia chieftain complaining that a low-level crook is taking all his money.

If the RIAA (and the movie industry) are really all about protecting the artists, I suggest those industries adopt standard accounting practices, so artists know exactly how much they’ve earned. Because right now, they can’t — not without a subpoena.

Will SCOTUS shut down class action suits?

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

This one’s important, spread it around.

Once again, something we can put on tone-deaf Democrats. I kept arguing that we should have pushed back on Roberts and Alito on their pro-corporate records, and not on abortion. Oh well, what the hell do I know?

I’d say it’s highly unlikely that the conservatives on this court will pass up the chance to put trial lawyers out of business:

It hasn’t gotten a lot of press, but a case involving AT&T that goes before the U.S. Supreme Court next week has sweeping ramifications for potentially millions of consumers.

If a majority of the nine justices vote the telecom giant’s way, any business that issues a contract to customers — such as for credit cards, cellphones or cable TV — would be able to prevent them from joining class-action lawsuits.

This would take away in such cases arguably the most powerful legal tool available to the little guy, particularly in cases involving relatively small amounts of money. Class-action suits allow plaintiffs to band together in seeking compensation or redress, thus giving substantially more heft to their claims.

The ability to ban class actions would potentially also apply to employment agreements such as union contracts.

Consumer advocates say that without the threat of class-action lawsuits, many businesses would be free to engage in unfair or deceptive practices. Few people would litigate on their own to resolve a case involving, say, a hundred bucks.

“The marketplace is fairer for consumers and workers because there’s a deterrent out there,” said Deepak Gupta, an attorney for the advocacy group Public Citizen who will argue on consumers’ behalf before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

“Companies are afraid of class actions,” he said. “This helps keep them honest.”

The case is AT&T Mobility vs. Concepcion. The basic question before the court is whether companies can bar class actions in the fine print of their take-it-or-leave-it contracts with customers and employees.
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