Tayna Anderson was just one out of thousands of people targeted by the RIAA for alleged copyright infringement between 2002 and the present. The RIAA contracted the services of MediaSentry, a computer investigative company, to peer into Ms. Anderson's personal hard drive and identify any music that fell under the RIAA umbrella. After MediaSentry allegedly discovered infringing files, the RIAA filed a boilerplate lawsuit that claimed thousands of dollars in lost revenue and made threatening demands about how the non-profit entity would recover it. Anderson promptly replied "fuck you" and filed a counterclaim that included a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) charge. In response, the RIAA tried to depose Anderson's then 7-year-old daughter, effectively asking to interrogate and threaten a little girl.
The RIAA was denied its opportunity to bully a child and eventually dropped its case against Tanya. But it was unable to convince the judge not to award Ms. Anderson her legal fees. The RIAA took a little while to hand over the cash and the presiding judge had to remind the monopoly representative organization of its obligation of the cash-money payout. Anderson's counterclaim suit was then upgraded to a class-action, but the judge rejected the claim, requesting more information within 30 days. The judge spent nearly an hour and a half detailing what she wanted to see in the claim, and Anderson's crack legal time complied.
And that brings us to today, as the RIAA now says the amended claim is "too long and complex for our tiny brains." Paraphrasing slightly for humor's sake, of course, the RIAA has requested that the judge reject the new claim outright or give them more time to respond because "we had to call our brother who's an actual lawyer, because we can't understand all this legal gobbledygook." The RIAA had spent the better part of two years prosecuting Ms. Anderson but is unable to sit down for an hour and read the "massive" 108-page document detailing in full the background, case itself, and counterclaims with supporting information. Anderson is claiming such awesomeness as Negligence, Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress, Racketeering, Conspiracy, Abuse of the Legal Process, Defamation, Unlawful Trade Practices, Fraud, Invasion of Privacy, Computer Fraud, and the best of the bunch: Injunction Relief.
That last one, "Injunction Relief," means that if the judge approves this draft and the case moves forward and is successfully argued, the RIAA will be barred from continuing to litigate any private citizen of the Unites States. How freakin' awesome is that? Ms. Anderson and her team of lawyers deserve a high five for that one. Effectively saying "eat our shit" to a monopoly, and if the judge is cool with it, they'll be legally forced to. Boo yeah.
