Appeals Court Deals Blow to RIAA by Stopping Expedited Piracy Subpoenas

Record labels and studios have been blocked from using expedited subpoenas to identify internet users suspected of illegally downloading and sharing songs, movies and TV shows online.

The ruling:

• As per Digital Music News, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that “copyright holders cannot use the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to subpoena internet providers to provide the identities of users allegedly committing piracy.”

• The DMCA allows copyright holders to obtain subpoenas without first filing a lawsuit or getting approval from a judge.

• In an amicus brief filed last year, the trade groups said that DMCA subpoenas are “an effective, and often the only, practical means of identifying online copyright pirates.”

Open to abuse:

• Opponents argue the DMCA process can be abused by those who could invoke it to file thousands of lawsuits in the hopes of securing a payoff, “regardless of the ownership of the infringing material,” a belief that aligns with the 8th Circuit’s ruling in 2005 and the D.C. Circuit’s in 2003.

• As a result, copyright holders have been left filing individual John Doe lawsuits rather than utilizing the expedited DMCA process.

• The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association have warned the latest court ruling will weaken efforts to stamp out digital piracy.

What they said:

• Judge Morgen Christen: “Whether the DMCA provides a sufficient remedy for copyright holders to vindicate their rights against infringers using P2P networking is ultimately a question for Congress, not the courts.”