

Minnesota Song-Sharing Case Heads for Third Trial - grellas
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202439566533&src=EMC-Email&et=editorial&bu=Law.com&pt=LAWCOM%20Newswire&cn=NW_20100128&kw=Minn.%20Song-Sharing%20Case%20Heads%20for%20Third%20Trial

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grellas
The final paragraphs in this piece illustrate what a fiasco it has proved for
RIAA to have filed these sorts of suits.

It is not filing any more of them. It has typically settled the ones it has
filed for peanuts ($3,500 on average). And it is offering to settle this
particular Minnesota case, in which it had gotten a $1.92M judgment (rejected
by the judge as "monstrous and shocking"), in exchange for a $25K donation to
charity by the defendant - with the defendant vowing to pursue the case
through the appellate courts to challenge the very constitutionality of the
stratospheric damages sought be RIAA in such actions.

All in all, a disastrous legal strategy for RIAA. At this point, the whole
momentum has shifted and they can't wait to get out of it (their election to
file a new trial appears to be nothing more than a desperate attempt to save
face, if that is still possible). These are all indicators that this
particular bully has been cut down to size, at least for the moment.

