James Delahunty
4 Jun 2007 19:56
In a decision which is devastating to the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) campaign against file sharing, both parties in Atlantic v. Andersen case have agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice. This means that Tanya Andersen, a disabled single-mother of a nine year old daughter, is the prevailing party and the door is now open to recovering attorneys fees.
The Oregon woman was accused of sharing gangsta rap music using the KaZaa P2P client. She completely denied involvement in distributing tracks like "Hoes in My Room" using the P2P network and filed a countersuit accusing the record industry of racketeering, fraud, and deceptive business practices in October 2005. The RIAA alleged that she shared the songs with the handle "gotenkito."
Last month, Andersen filed a motion for summary judgment, saying that the plaintiffs have "failed to provide competent evidence sufficient to satisfy summary judgment standards" to show that she was guilty of copyright infringement. A forensic expert hired by the RIAA also completely failed to find any evidence whatsoever on her hard drive to support the RIAA's allegations.
The RIAA had no choice but to dismiss the case "with prejudice". This effectively exonerates Andersen of the crime. In the past, the RIAA has moved to dismiss cases "without prejudice" which ends the lawsuit without a winner. The RIAA could now be forced to cough up an attorneys' fee award.
Andersen's counterclaim is still "standing on its own," according to Tanya, which means she still has the opportunity to argue her counterclaims before the court while the RIAA cannot pursue its copyright infringement claims any further.
Source:
Ars Technica