Pop quiz: Which of the following tactics can be used effectively to evade an RIAA-instigated copyright infringement lawsuit?
- Give Mitch Bainwol a blow job
- Buy five thousand copies of Miracle: Happy Summer from William Hung
- Evade subpoenas and don’t show up to the trial
- Render prosecutors blind by throwing a Bible at their heads
While A would probably work, B would put you out a lot of money for a really shit album, and D didn’t help Michael Bluth very much, it seems that for one lucky Boston University student, C did the trick.
According to Ars Technica, the RIAA was unable to prosecute BU student Christopher Brennan for sharing five songs (including Smashmouth’s “Beer Goggles”) after the defendant failed to appear in court and did not respond to attempts to contact him. After the case was thrown out in February, a judge denied the RIAA’s many subsequent re-filings of motions for a default judgment, citing that no arguments could progress against a defendant who may not have been aware a case against him was pending. Looks like Mr. Brennan got lucky -- he didn’t have to face a court case or get his internet connection suspended.
So, if you’re ever caught in this situation, ask yourself: would I rather go into hiding and walk out a couple months later safe from a vindictive corporation or have this album cover all over my house?
It’s sort of a hard choice, so why not do both?