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EFF: RIAA should pay for single mom's two-year ordeal

8 July 2007 18:47 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 7 comments

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has demanded that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) pay for a single mom's two-year legal ordeal fighting a baseless file-sharing lawsuit. The group let its position known to a Washington state court in an amicus brief filed Thursday. In January 2005, Dawnell Leadbetter was accused of illegally downloading copyrighted music and the RIAA claims she owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Leadbetter contacted the RIAA to deny the baseless claims, and refused to pay any settlement monies. In response, the RIAA sued Leadbetter, and Leadbetter hired an attorney to fight the charges. After months of legal wrangling, the RIAA finally dropped the case in December of 2006. But in the meantime, Leadbetter had incurred significant attorney's fees.

"Ms. Leadbetter isn't the only innocent Internet user that has been ensnared by the RIAA's litigation dragnet. But she is one of the few who have fought back, resisting RIAA pressure to pay settlement monies for something she did not do," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "The RIAA's settlement offers are usually less that what it would cost to defend yourself, so it's a big commitment to hire a lawyer to clear your name. Reimbursing Ms. Leadbetter's attorney's fees could encourage other innocent lawsuit targets to stand up for themselves."

Source:
Press Release

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Discuss this article!
duckNrun (Member) 8 July 2007 22:29
Amen to that! As well as maybe making the RIAA think TWICE before they file baseless suits using ILLEGAL investigators (previous story)! [ + quote]
spydah (Junior Member) 9 July 2007 6:37
They should pay a lot more then that to people they cause extra stress on for those BS lawsuits. [ + quote]
Krmnnghia (Newbie) 9 July 2007 7:35
I am usualluy against suing for large amounts for pain and suffering and all the crap but I really wish they would let her stick it to them by demanding a few Mill. Man that would make me smile. [ + quote]
emugamer (Member) 9 July 2007 8:11
I don't think her demands are frivolous. She should get paid the money she spent fighting off someone who attacked her. Maybe as a sign of good faith, donate anything extra to a charity. [ + quote]
Steve83 (Member) 12 July 2007 8:13
Donate, HELL! She should spend every penny herself; maybe some on a really nice computer with a capture card & a hi-speed ISP! I hope she jams it into RIAA & breaks it off! What would RIAA do if they got sued frivolously & had to spend 1/3 of their net worth on the defense? [ + quote]
Steve83 (Member) 12 July 2007 8:14
And BTW... Why don't these articles ever contain useful links, like where to sign a petition supporting the EFF amicus, or where to send donations to the victim? [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 16 July 2007 3:42
This is just another one of their stupid cases that they waste their money on. [ + quote]