Copyright Law
Judge Refuses Default Judgment in File-Sharing Suit, Cites Lack of Evidence
Posted Feb 27, 2008, 01:43 pm CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Legal observers say a judge’s refusal to grant a default judgment in a suit alleging illegal file-sharing is a setback for the music industry.
U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton of Connecticut said in Feb. 13 ruling that a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by several recording companies appeared to lack a sufficient factual basis, PC World reports. The suit alleged that Christopher David Brennan had 2,071 songs on his PC and he used an online distribution system to make the songs available to others. Brennan never appeared in court to defend the suit.
Arterton said the factual record was “nonexistent” to show Brennan actually shared any of the songs.
The Groklaw blog says the ruling (PDF posted by Groklaw) requires proof that songs are distributed, rejecting the music industry’s theory that merely making songs available is a copyright violation.
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