Yet another court decision questioned one of the Recording Industry Association of America’s main legal arguments in prosecuting alleged music pirates.
The RIAA argues that people who have made copyrighted music available for sharing have committed copyright infringement, whether or not the music was then illegally copied and downloaded by an unauthorized user. This argument was questioned in several recent conflicting court decisions. A judge this week in Atlantic v. Howell rejected the “making available” theory and denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment. (There are other wrinkles in the case, too, such as whether the defendants intended to share the music or whether they did so accidentally.)
A bench trial for the self-represented defendants will likely happen sometime in September, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed an amicus brief in the case. The judge’s 17-page decision can be found here.—Catherine Rampell
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