RIAA seeks sanctions against defense lawyer in copyright case

Computerworld - In a move likely to further irritate those opposed to the Recording Industry Association of America's controversial anti-piracy campaign, the RIAA last week filed a motion seeking legal sanctions against a lawyer known for vigorously defending alleged copyright violators.

In a motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, an RIAA lawyer accused New York attorney Ray Beckerman of engaging in "vexatious litigation" in a case involving an alleged copyright violator.

The 31-page motion by the RIAA asked the court to dismiss the case without prejudice and sanction Beckerman and his client for unnecessarily increasing the costs and duration of the lawsuit by filing false statements, making "frivolous motions" and fighting "good faith" attempts by the RIAA to uncover evidence.

The RIAA claimed that it was being forced to seek dismissal of the case because of the loss of a critical computer and because of the "defendant's obstructionist" strategies, both of which had irreparably hurt its ability to prove its claims. The motion noted that the case would not have lasted so long or cost so much to both sides if Beckerman and his client had provided the information sought by the RIAA in a timely and complete fashion.

In seeking sanctions against Beckerman, the RIAA noted that Beckerman's habit of posting details about all his "baseless motions" on his blog site "demeans the integrity of these judicial proceedings and warrants this imposition of sanctions."

The sanctions were needed to "punish Defendant and her counsel for their intentional misconduct and to discourage others from engaging in similar behavior," the RIAA noted in its brief.

Beckerman today dismissed the complaints as frivolous and said the only reason the RIAA is seeking to drop the case is because they are unable to prove the alleged copyright violation.

The case in question is UMG Recordings Inc. et al vs. Marie Lindor and dates back to 2005, though Beckerman only started representing Lindor in 2006. The RIAA accused Lindor, a home health aide from Haiti, of using her home computer to illegally download and distribute copyrighted music.

Initially, it was Beckerman who asked for dismissal of the case on the grounds that the recording companies had failed to provide evidence that Lindor engaged in copyright infringement.

"What's going on here is that they have been chasing an innocent woman for three years for nothing," Beckerman said. "I have repeatedly asked them to drop the case and they refused," he said. He repeatedly informed the RIAA that Lindor was computer illiterate and had not so much as switched on a computer at the time of her alleged infringement, he said.