RIAA Pulls Back from File Sharing Case

The Industry cop saw itself forced to put an end to a lawsuit it had filed against Joan Cassin more than two years ago. RIAA asked for dismissal of the case in May and it received approval on June 4 from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The RIAA filed suit against Joan Cassin in April 2006, after its MediaSentry program identified a Kazaa account through which she was sharing 406 files. She fought back and her lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the case.

The point they tried to make was that just offering a file for download did not make you a copyright infringer. Apparently, RIAA based its case on no actual proof of piracy.

Lately, to the dissatisfaction of the RIAA, judges have let go at least two cases of the notorious organization due to the fact that the RIAA was unsuccessful in proving that file distribution actually occurred.

It’s possible that these rulings caused the group to adopt a more cautious position. It has filed a motion to dismiss the case "without prejudice" – meaning that each side pays its own legal fees and the claimants can sue Cassin again on the subject if in the meantime they manage to build a more solid case.

However, as this is the second time Cassin gets her case dismissed, there’s a big chance that she gained through it protection regarding future legal action.

According to federal law if two cases for charges on the same ground get sacked, that second dismissal get things adjudicated.

This may probably be more of a premeditated move than initially thought – as giving up a case which may have ended up badly for it influencing the result of other future cases, the RIAA wanted perhaps to make sure other alleged offenders will build their defense around these rulings.