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Last weekend, I blogged about Patricia Santangelo, the first person threatened with a RIAA file-sharing lawsuit to opt to defend herself, rather than simply settle for thousands of dollars.
I've been told by an insider that the RIAA lawsuits are self-sustaining: that is, the cost of running their shakedown operation was less than the settlements it generated, so there was no reason to expect an end to the legal attacks on thousands of Internet users.
Patricia Santangelo's defense shifts those economics. By defending
herself in court, Santangelo is causing the RIAA to fork over for
attorneys to argue (albeit ineptly) that she should be forced to pay up to $150,000 per act of infringement that she is alleged to have committed.
How can Santangelo afford to defend herself? She has an attorney who
believes that she is innocent, and that when she is found innocent that
she will be able to recoup his fees from the RIAA.
This attorney (Ray Beckerman of Beldock Levine & Hoffman) believes that he can do this for lots
of RIAA defendants. If he and other attorneys make good on this, kiss
the RIAA's profitable legal shakedown goodbye: once the long-term
suicide of suing customers becomes unprofitable in the short term as
well, no way are the shareholders in these corporations let them go on.
We expect Ms Santangelo's costs to be picked up by the RIAA, since (a)
the copyright statute permits the Court to shift the attorneys fees to
the losing party, (b) these cases were clearly frivolous and brought in
bad faith, and (c) it is a matter of public interest that the RIAA be
deterred from bringing more such meritless cases...
We will fight to the end. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't
take on something unless I am prepared to fight to the end. Also,
anyone who knows me knows that the one thing I can't stand is a bully.
The RIAA will give up long before we do, because sooner or later it
will dawn upon them that their attorneys are taking them for a ride...
As far as I am concerned there should be no limit to how many
people we can represent. If we have too many cases we can hire more
lawyers.
Source: BoingBoing.
Transript of court proceedings thanks to Ray at riaalawsuits.us.
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1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
1 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
2 ----------------------------------x
2
3 ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT GROUP,
3 INC., et al.,
4
4 Plaintiff,
5
5 v. 05 Civ. 2414(CM)
6
6 PATRICIA SANTANGELO,
7
7 Defendant.
8
8 ----------------------------------x
9
9 White Plains, N.Y.
10 May 6, 2005
10 2:15 p.m.
11
12
13 Before:
13
14 THE HONORABLE COLLEEN McMAHON,
14
15 District Judge
15
16
17
18 APPEARANCES
18
19
19 COWAN, LIEBOWITZ & LATMAN, P.C.
20 Attorneys for Plaintiffs
20 MICHAEL F. MASCHIO
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22 PATRICIA SANTANGELO
22 Pro Se Defendant
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CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 THE DEPUTY CLERK: 05 Civil 2414, Elektra
2 Entertainment Group v. Patricia Santangelo.
3 MR. MASCHIO: Good afternoon, your Honor.
4 THE COURT: Good afternoon.
5 And you must be Ms. Santangelo.
6 MS. SANTANGELO: Yes.
7 THE COURT: Hi. I'm Judge McMahon.
8 Okay, Mr. Maschio, what is the problem here?
9 MR. MASCHIO: Well, your Honor, this is a claim for
10 copyright infringement. Plaintiffs are the owners of
11 registered copies of recordings. And a list of six of those
12 recordings are annexed to the complaint as Exhibit A. And
13 annexed as Exhibit B is a list of musical compositions obtained
14 from the defendant's computer as of 11-4-04, which was the date
15 of capture.
16 According to our records, there are three main
17 computer users that have access to defendant's files.
18 Defendant uses the Kazaa search engine, which furnishings the
19 software, which allows the defendant to upload other users'
20 files.
21 The captured materials in Exhibit B shows that the
22 defendant had uploaded at least 1,641 files. We have selected
23 six songs, your Honor, from the defendant's files. We listened
24 to the songs and confirmed that they were the plaintiffs'
25 copyrighted recordings, and we believe that we have
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 established, as a result, that defendant has distributed and
2 made available for distribution at least six songs, which is a
3 violation of the plaintiffs' copyrights, and we seek damages
4 and costs.
5 Now, the history of the case is very brief. The
6 action was commenced in February, late February. The complaint
7 was filed in March. Your Honor issued an order on March 24th
8 scheduling this conference. The defendant was served on April
9 25th, and her time to expire does not --
10 THE COURT: Her time to answer.
11 MR. MASCHIO: -- time to answer does not expire until
12 May 15th. And she was advised of the conference, and,
13 obviously, she's here as a result of that.
14 I understand that, prior to the institution of this
15 lawsuit, she had some discussions with the settlement center,
16 but those were not consummated. And that's the status of the
17 case at this point, your Honor.
18 THE COURT: Okay.
19 So, Mrs. Santangelo, hello.
20 MS. SANTANGELO: Hi.
21 THE COURT: Talk to me.
22 MS. SANTANGELO: I really don't know where to start.
23 I wasn't sure, because I had just gotten served last week,
24 that -- I haven't had a chance to -- they say here to get an
25 attorney.
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 THE COURT: Well, it would be a good idea if you did.
2 MS. SANTANGELO: I really wasn't able to at this time.
3 I have made phone calls to try to find an attorney.
4 THE COURT: Okay.
5 MS. SANTANGELO: The reason why, when they called and
6 they wanted to make a settlement, I no longer have that
7 computer that the IP address was on, that they say the music
8 was downloaded onto, because it had developed a major -- a lot
9 of major viruses, apparently, and was wiped out and taken by my
10 ex-husband. He was going to try to get it fixed. And I guess
11 he has it down in North Carolina right now. So, at the time, I
12 have nothing in front of me to say, okay, this is what
13 happened. And I have five children, so I wasn't real sure how
14 it had happened, to be honest.
15 THE COURT: I have some guesses.
16 MS. SANTANGELO: I realized when I looked at this that
17 the downloads, I guess they call it Exhibit B, the screen name
18 that this Kazaa was under doesn't belong to anyone in my
19 family. And that's most likely why I was never notified by AOL
20 or any of my -- the companies that I have online service with
21 that my children had downloaded anything. Apparently, it
22 belongs to a friend of my son, who is now 14.
23 THE COURT: I see.
24 MS. SANTANGELO: And I didn't know about it. And I
25 really don't know where to go from here. And so I'm a little
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 dumbfounded by the whole thing.
2 THE COURT: Yes, I know. I keep saying I live in --
3 although I've read the riot act to my own kids a hundred
4 times --
5 MS. SANTANGELO: Oh, yeah, now I have.
6 THE COURT: -- I live in perpetual fear that something
7 I don't know my kids are doing is going to come back and bite
8 me in the butt. And the difference between you and me,
9 Ms. Santangelo, if it happens to me, it will be in the
10 headlines of the New York Post.
11 MS. SANTANGELO: That's true.
12 THE COURT: Right.
13 So, anyway, you have my sympathy. I mean, I can look
14 at this list and I can look at you and I can see that you
15 weren't the person who downloaded these pieces.
16 MS. SANTANGELO: Right.
17 THE COURT: Right. So, okay.
18 And the download dates here are what?
19 MR. MASCHIO: They captured her files as of -- there
20 is a November date, your Honor.
21 THE COURT: And the computer has been in North
22 Carolina.
23 MS. SANTANGELO: Well, I moved, and I think that was
24 the problem. I moved in -- June 30th of last year from
25 [omitted by editor] to [omiited by editor]. At that time, I had
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 cancelled my account with Optimum Online. So that was another
2 reason I didn't really understand what was going on, because I
3 didn't have an IP address anymore. So I guess that's why it
4 took so long for them to find me.
5 THE COURT: Okay. Well, I think it would be a really
6 good idea for you to get a lawyer, because I would love to see
7 a mom fighting one of these.
8 MS. SANTANGELO: Okay.
9 I think my biggest issue is, honestly, not with the
10 record company as much as it is with this company called Kazaa
11 that allowed them to do this in the first place. I really
12 can't believe it. And I just, obviously, in the last week,
13 started studying about it, you know. I've never really looked
14 into it before, but --
15 THE COURT: Yes, that, I can well understand.
16 MS. SANTANGELO: -- that it could even be allowed to
17 do in the first place. It's just mind-boggling.
18 THE COURT: Okay. Well, I don't know if you have, for
19 example, a friend who is a lawyer or anything.
20 MS. SANTANGELO: You know what my question is? What
21 type of lawyer? Because I'm so confused. I spoke to one
22 that -- one lawyer last week who said he didn't handle I guess
23 civil cases or --
24 THE COURT: Yes. Or maybe he didn't handle copyright
25 infringement cases. But this is a fairly simple and
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 straightforward civil case. And I think pretty much any -- I
2 mean, I'm not allowed to recommend lawyers to people, but I
3 think pretty much any general practice lawyer who does a little
4 bit of this and a little bit of that could do a little bit of
5 this.
6 MS. SANTANGELO: Right. I mean, my problem was I
7 am -- I mean, there was one lawyer, and it's just that I just
8 didn't have the money to give him up front at this time.
9 THE COURT: Right, right. This also is a problem.
10 So, in any event, I'm going to put this over for 60
11 days to give you an opportunity.
12 MS. SANTANGELO: Thank you.
13 THE COURT: And I'm going to enter on the record
14 what's called a general denial on your behalf --
15 MS. SANTANGELO: Okay.
16 THE COURT: -- which will relieve you for the moment
17 of the need to file an answer. So he won't file a motion for a
18 default judgment in a couple weeks, because I don't want a
19 motion for a default motion in a couple weeks.
20 MR. MASCHIO: Can I be heard for a moment, your Honor?
21 THE COURT: You can be heard all you want.
22 MR. MASCHIO: It would be helpful to resolve this case
23 if the defendant would put in, under oath, a denial in writing.
24 THE COURT: Fine. But I'm going to give her some time
25 to find a lawyer.
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 MR. MASCHIO: That's okay. We would just like -- we
2 think it's appropriate for her to say, yes, I did this or, no,
3 I did not do this under oath.
4 The other thing is that --
5 THE COURT: First of all, you didn't file a verified
6 complaint, and she doesn't have to file a verified answer. So
7 she doesn't have to do anything under oath.
8 MR. MASCHIO: Well, okay.
9 THE COURT: I'm going to give her 60 days to find a
10 lawyer. And she's not in default. And she will not be in
11 default if there is no answer, because, right now, there is a
12 general denial on the record for her. Okay?
13 MR. MASCHIO: Okay.
14 The other thing, your Honor, I don't know if you want
15 to do this. I brought a consent scheduling order.
16 THE COURT: No. I don't want to set a scheduling
17 order. In fact, I don't want anything to happen in this case
18 for a while.
19 MR. MASCHIO: Okay.
20 THE COURT: I'm in no hurry to see this case resolved.
21 So far, Mrs. Santangelo has raised enough issues, including the
22 use of a screen name or an account name -- not hers, but some
23 other person's -- that suggests that she might have some really
24 interesting defenses to this. And there are defenses that
25 maybe even ought to be litigated. The whole concept of a young
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 person using the parent's computer access is bad enough, but if
2 this name is not hers, she doesn't pay for this account.
3 MR. MASCHIO: They wouldn't have brought the action,
4 your Honor, if they hadn't verified that very carefully.
5 THE COURT: Well, we'll see, won't we? We'll see.
6 And if what she's telling me is wrong, I won't be very happy
7 with her.
8 So let's set another conference date for July 8th at,
9 say, 10 a.m. And hopefully you will have an attorney by then.
10 And if you get an attorney, you need to put the attorney in
11 touch with Mr. Maschio, and maybe you will get this thing
12 resolved.
13 MS. SANTANGELO: Mr. Maschio's --
14 THE COURT: He will give you his business card.
15 MS. SANTANGELO: There is more than one group here.
16 MR. MASCHIO: I'll give her my card, but our
17 instructions are for these people to deal with the conference
18 settlement center. They had discussions.
19 THE COURT: I'm sorry. Your instructions from me, the
20 Judge --
21 MR. MASCHIO: Okay.
22 THE COURT: -- are that, if she appears with a lawyer,
23 her lawyer will deal with you.
24 MR. MASCHIO: Oh, absolutely, your Honor.
25 THE COURT: Otherwise, you take your action and you
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 file it in front of an arbitrator.
2 MR. MASCHIO: No, all I was suggesting, your Honor, is
3 that, if she doesn't come with an attorney, that the more
4 direct way of doing this -- and this is just to facilitate
5 things -- is to deal directly with the conference center.
6 THE COURT: Not once you've filed an action in my
7 court.
8 MR. MASCHIO: Okay.
9 THE COURT: You file an action in my court, your
10 conference center is out of it. They have nothing to do with
11 anything.
12 MR. MASCHIO: Okay. I'll give her my card.
13 THE COURT: If you are here, you are here as an
14 officer of the court. You're taking up my time and cluttering
15 up my calendar, so you will do it in the context of the Court.
16 Maybe it will be with a magistrate judge, but you will be
17 representing your client, not some conference center. And if
18 your people want things to be done through the conference
19 center, tell them not to bring lawsuits.
20 All right, so 10:00 on July 8.
21 And as I say, if you hire an attorney, you have him
22 get in touch with Mr. Maschio, and you will see if it can be
23 resolved; and if not, then, when we come in here, your lawyer
24 will file a formal answer on your behalf and we'll set up a
25 schedule.
CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
(914)390-4103
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1 If you can't find a lawyer, you will have to come
2 back, and then I'll have to set a schedule, which will be about
3 60 days, and then a real quick trial. Okay?
4 MS. SANTANGELO: Thank you.
5 THE COURT: All right. Thank you.
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CHRISTINA M. ARENDS-DIECK, RPR, RMR, CRR
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