Monday, April 25, 2005

Family to sue Sharman after settling with RIAA

A couple in Ohio who got threatened by the RIAA and settled out of court for $3000 have decided to sue the file sharing company that they reckon got them into the mess in the first instance.

"Sally and Jim Wilson were frightened in February when they learned the recording industry had sued them because their two teenage daughters had downloaded 653 songs - and that they could be liable to pay $750 for each...

The Cold Spring couple has agreed to settle for $3,000. Next week, the Wilsons plan to sue an Australian-based company, Sharman Networks Ltd., whose popular peer-to-peer Kazaa software the girls used."

The only thing that really surprises me about this is that it has taken so long for this kind of case to arise. Given the thousands of people subject to file sharing lawsuits who have handed over thousands of dollars to the RIAA I expected this to happen much sooner. It will be an interesting one to watch and though I don't hold out much hope of success for the Wilsons, the outcome of the Grokster supreme court case may have an influence.

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