From the “I’m WAY too late in posting this” department –
Over the weekend, a story broke about the RIAA suing another average joe for file sharing. Defendant died shortly thereafter. In a statement to the family, the RIAA said they’d allow 6 months for the family to grieve, before deposing the defendant’s children and proceeding with a lawsuit against the estate.
Monday, the RIAA had this to say:
Our hearts go out to the Scantleberry family for their loss. We had decided to temporarily suspend the productive settlement discussions we were having with the family. Mr. Scantleberry had admitted that the infringer was his stepson, and we were in the process settling with him shortly before his passing. Out of an abundance of sensitivity, we have elected to drop this particular case.
They failed to mention that the abundance of sensitivity is not for the grieving family, but for the PR. They haven’t figured out that suing an artist’s fanbase isn’t going to solve the problem of their antiquated business model. They haven’t figured out that at the height of Napster’s popularity, music sales were up. They haven’t figured out that by suing the little guy, they’re just giving the little guy the desire to not support RIAA clients.
Sources are all over the internet, but for reference, use [H]ardOCP.
