RIAA Tries To Appeal Order Allowing Internet TV Court Broadcast 209
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA has appealed the order entered several days ago allowing the January 22nd hearing in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum to be streamed over internet TV. Additionally, they've made a motion for a stay. I'm just a country lawyer, but as far as I know: (a) it's not possible to appeal the order, (b) it was procedurally improper and ineffective to file a notice of appeal, and (c) it was improper to direct their motion for a stay to the District Court Judge. Well, let's hope the arguments in the First Circuit will be streamed, too. Meanwhile, one commentator wonders why the tooth and nail opposition to broadcasting, since the professed aim of the litigations was to 'educate' the public?"
Re:I Know I'll Be Watching (Score:3, Informative)
I can't wait for the RIAA to air out their ridiculous tactics and for the judge to laugh them right out of court. Would it be legal to record this and, say, put it on YouTube?
Good question. Presumably this is a matter of public record.
Re:Isn't That Just How Highly Paid Lawyers Work? (Score:5, Informative)
I am by no means defending this action, but ... come on, you wouldn't do the same thing? They've been getting away with everything in private for so long, why ruin a good thing?
If you're asking me whether I'm surprised they're resisting it, no I'm not. If I did what they do for a living, I'd be ashamed too. The last thing I would want is for the world -- including my friends and relatives -- to see what I do.
But it's not really possible for me to imagine myself in their shoes, because -- having been born of a human mother -- I would never be in their shoes and -- being a lawyer and a gentleman -- would never do the things they do.
Re:Not trying to be a jerk, but... (Score:5, Informative)
I.e. even the RIAA lawyers have evidenced their awareness that all 3 statements were correct.
Re:I Know I'll Be Watching (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Matter of definition ... (Score:4, Informative)
None of which makes copyright infringement any less unlawful.
And that, my friend, has never been the topic of this discussion. Of course it's illegal. So are a lot of things. Some should be, and some shouldn't, but that's a matter for lawmakers to decide.
The issue that the RIAA has done a lot of really horrible (and, yes, probably illegal) things in their quest to put a stop to infringement. They're still doing them, in spite of having claimed that they have stopped. If this outfit had done a bit of due diligence, only sued people that were truly guilty, only asked for a reasonable amount of compensation, nobody would be complaining.
Re:It is not that they don't want you to see it (Score:3, Informative)
timezones (Score:1, Informative)
This [timeanddate.com] is the list for the other timezones for those of you who want to see it
Re:Any ideas WHY the RIAA's decisionmaking is so b (Score:4, Informative)
As NYCL points out, you cannot appeal NONFINAL rulings of the trial court. Otherwise, people would be appealing EVERYTHING that happens in the trial courts, and the trial process would turn into an endless Dickensian jumble. A person has to wait until everything is over in the trial court before he or she can appeal. The RIAA didn't do that, so this "appeal" is doomed. Right now, the RIAA's lawyers are looking stupid (even to themselves) and may be worried that their clients will be pissed at them for making such a silly procedural blunder. They'll seek to convert their appeal into an attempt at interlocutory review. The problem with interlocutory review is that it is EXTREMELY difficult to get (for the same reasons stated in the first paragraph). Very generally speaking, a person can only get interlocutory review if they can demonstrate that the trial court's decision was soooo bad that its consequence would screw up everything afterward. The appeals courts will bend over backward to uphold the trial court's use of its discretion. A motion for interlocutory review is a really bad in this case because it has virtually no chance of success. This presents the really interesting question: Why is the RIAA acting so stupid? This appeal is a loser motion that will cost real money (and maybe elicit monetary sanctions) and will hurt the music company's public relations. Are the lawyers (not the client) making the decisions here? Is the client asleep at the wheel? Is the lawyer keeping the client in the loop so that the client can make informed decisions? Is the decisionmaker-client not any one person? Who is making the calls for the music company here? Often rich ligitants seek to financially exhaust poor litigants by making tons of motions. That strategy doesn't make sense in this case, because Nesson's team is like the Borg. They'll eat that stuff up. Generally, the strategic decisions are made by the clients and the tactical decisions are made by the lawyers. Maybe the lawyers reckoned that this is a tactical call that the lawyers get to make . . . This is a high-order blunder by the RIAA. I'm just wondering why . . . . The RIAA is, among other things, a joint venture formed by a bunch of music companies. The mandate of the RIAA, insofar as it is clearly expressed or understood, must be the product of negotiation and compromise and inertia.
What they've done is abandon the "appeal" and file a writ of "mandamus or prohibition [blogspot.com]". (I.e. they couldn't make up their mind whether it was a writ of mandamus or a writ of prohibition, so they say "or". PS It looks to me like an application for a writ of prohibition.)
Re:I Know I'll Be Watching (Score:5, Informative)
In USA "anyone can be photographed without their consent except when they have secluded themselves in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy such as dressing rooms, restrooms, medical facilities, and inside their homes".
(See http://www.krages.com/phoright.htm [krages.com])
My Prediction (Sure To Go Wrong) (Score:3, Informative)
If the "writ of mandamus or prohibition" ever gets decided on the merits, it will be denied. The RIAA tries to read Rule 83.3 (the rule that governs recordings and broadcasts of a case) in a way to which it is not susceptible. Specifically, ...
83.3(a) reads, "Except as specifically provided in these rules OR by order of the court ..."
Rule 83.3(c) reads, "The court may permit ..." followed by a list of certain types of proceedings.
The RIAA wants 83.3(c) to apply as a limitation to 83.3(a) "... by order of the court .." However, 83.3(c) is a rule, and as such it applies to 83.3(a) "specifically provided in these rules". For example, this rule permits a court to allow a recording of proceedings without the need to resort to an order.
Sorry folks, I have read too many SCO v. The World Court filings. The RIAA thinks just like SCO. Oh yes, SCO is now in bankruptcy.
Here is the Court filing:
http://beckermanlegal.com/pdf/?file=/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/sony_tenenbaum_090117PetitionWritProhibitionMandamus.pdf [beckermanlegal.com]
Re:Appealing an Order (Score:3, Informative)