Wednesday, April 25, 2007

RIAA Drops Case in Which it Pursued High School Student on 24-hours' notice

In UMG v. Hightower, the Houston, Texas, case in which the RIAA subpoenaed a high school student for his deposition on 24 hours notice on a school day, the RIAA has abruptly agreed to drop the case "without prejudice":

Stipulation of dismissal*
Order of dismissal*

Ms. Hightower was represented by J. Goodwille Pierre, of Houston, Texas.

* Document published online at Internet Law & Regulation

Commentary & discussion:

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7 comments:

Igor said...

This seems like a ploy to bring the case again later and not be faced with a tight deadline to depose the HS kid.

StephenH said...

This is not a fair deal. Because they dropped it "without prejudice, this kid could be sued again,

AMD FanBoi said...

Without Prejudice:

So they skip away yet again, able to re-file at will, carryover all information they received the first time, and not have to pay damages to someone when their case is so weak that they wouldn't take it through to court.

Ray,

Can they run past a Statute of Limitations if they don't re-file again reasonably soon?

Jadeic said...

It still leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Does anyone know if J. Goodwille Pierre's involvement was pro bono?

P.S. Some of the Word Verification character strings are getting as long as the posts!

jbrooks said...

The defendant didn't have to agree to the stipulation but could have filed a brief in opposition. If the record companies refile, the defendant can again answer and counterclaim.

Given the options available to the defendant and knowing nothing about defendants decision making process and other relevant circumstances to that process, how can anyone criticize defendant for stipulating to dismissal without prejudice?

raybeckerman said...

jbrooks.... you're absolutely right....

Ryan said...

Aye, just because the RIAA has the OPTION of refiling that does not mean they will.