A teenager whose mother and sister have been separately targeted by the RIAA in lawsuits is fighting back against their lawsuit against himself.  The boy is sixteen years old and accused of acts of music piracy when he was 11.  He is counter suing the record industry for collusion.

The RIAA had previously sued the boys mother, who refused to settle becoming somewhat famous in her own right until the suit against her was dropped in December.

Unfortunately for the family the sister of the brother and daughter of the mother did not file paperwork fast enough and is ordered to pay over $30k in a default judgement against her.

Little brother however is fighting back and fighting hard in a counter suit that could set precedents and have an impact around the world. His suit accuses the recording industry acting through the RIAA of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats.

The boy also claims that he never pirated music and that the record companies can not prove that he did pirate music.  He and his attorney also claim that the statute of limitations has passed and that all of the alleged music downloaded was actually owned by his sister on store bought CDs, which would insinuate that the recording industry sued one of its few paying customers and won a judgement against a paying customer for $30+k.  That’s sure to win them some customer loyalty!

The boys lawyer Robert Santangelo claims that the record companies have filed more than 18,000 piracy lawsuits in federal courts in a ‘conspiracy to defraud the courts of the United States.’  If he were to win against the record industry that victory might make for one of the most ironic class action lawsuit formations in history.

Technorati tags: boy sues record industry, record industry collusion allegations, antitrust, piracy lawsuits, RIAA sues paying customers and wins

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The RIAA is going after one of its largest paying customers, XM Radio. The RIAA claims that XM’s new product under the Inno name is too much like an MP3 player or an MP3 recorder and therefore is not covered under XM’s current arrangement whereby XM pays to broadcast music. The music industry wanted XM to pay a similar rate such as is imposed on Apple and Sirius (XM’s largest competitor) for the download of music in addition to the broadcast. XM feels that the recording industry is trying to double charge its customers, who pay $12.95 per month and under XM’s vision would not have to pay for a download.

“The lawsuit seeks $150,000 in damages for every song copied by XM Satellite customers using the devices, which went on sale weeks ago. The company said it played 160,000 different songs every month.” This quote out of the New York Times is slightly out of context as XM does state that it broadcasts 160,000 songs each month, but does not say how many songs are being recorded onto these devices.

XM has apparently ruffled some feathers with one of its most important partners, the RIAA. XM had attempted to play nice with the RIAA, this lawsuit seems to indicate a severe breakdown between the partners. Maven Mapper’s next line of inquiry will be to review XM’s financials and compare them to Sirius who by recent accounts has agreed to pay the RIAA the fees they seek.

Its curious that Sirius has accepted this and XM has fought it now all the way to court.

Recording Industry Sues XM Satellite Radio - New York Times

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