Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Interesting article in Nashua Telegraph, "Students Make Noise in fight with RIAA"

Interesting article by Dave Brooks of the Nashua Telegraph today about the UMG Recordings v. Roy case, in which law students from the Franklin Pierce Law Center, in Concord, New Hampshire, have come to the defense of a woman targeted by the RIAA:

Students make noise in fight with RIAA

The highest-profile fight between new technology and old copyright laws has taken a new twist in New Hampshire, where law students are helping to defend a Hudson woman from claims that she illegally downloaded songs.

"Most of them (students), I think, are interested in the case from an intellectual and academic standpoint. They also have an interest because it's relevant to their friends," said professor Ashlyn Lembree, who runs the intellectual property and transaction clinic at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord and who is overseeing the students' work.

Relevant, indeed. The Recording Industry Association of America has been suing over illegal song downloads for years. This has turned the RIAA into the baddest of bad guys for the iPod generation, and has also made the fate of digital recordings central to the struggle over copyright in the Internet age.Combine such notoriety with legal novelty – laws and court precedents are still unfolding, which is why it has produced such eye-popping results as a $220,000 jury award for downloading about $25 worth of songs – and you can see why the law center is interested.
Complete article

Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

No comments: