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Santangelos settle with RIAA after long battle

29 April 2009 20:21 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 6 comments

Patricia Santangelo, a mother of five, has been involved in a legal battle with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) since 2005. Originally, Patricia herself was accused of downloading and sharing songs from artists such as Michael Jackson, using the Kazaa P2P client. Patricia denied it and it became pretty obvious quickly that she simply did not have the knowledge required to share music at the time.

The RIAA eventually dropped the case against her, but decided to sue two of her children, Michelle and Robert, aged 20 and 16 at the time. It said that Michelle had admitted piracy in a deposition and that Robert had been implicated by a family friend. They denied wrongdoing. However, since both are now in college and feel that the case is holding them back, they agreed to pay $7,000 in damages.

They paid half the amount April 20 and are to make six payments of $583.33 by October. "We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Santangelos," Cara Duckworth, spokeswoman for the RIAA. She didn't give any information on how much the RIAA spent to reach a $7,000 settlement, but did say: "We don't break out costs per case, and it's not a question of it being 'worth it' or a 'victory.'"

Jordan Glass, a lawyer for the Santangelos, said that the record labels never expected someone like Patricia to fight off a lawsuit, since they, "billions of dollars of corporate power, legal intellect, experience, and she had nothing." "This was preventing the kids from moving on," he said. "Sometimes you reduce the damages so much it's time to call it quits."

Permalink to this article

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Canada added to piracy Priority Watch List (30 April 2009)

Santangelos want $8 million from AOL, Sharman (15 September 2007)

Children sued by RIAA try to bring Sharman with them (16 August 2007)

RIAA lawsuit target prevails in court (11 April 2007)

RIAA's case against New York woman faltering (22 March 2007)

RIAA wins judgement from 20 year old girl (13 January 2007)

RIAA files 751 more lawsuits (15 December 2005)

Patricia Santangelo requests trial by jury in RIAA suit (3 December 2005)

Lawsuit victim sues RIAA under RICO Act (2 October 2005)

Divorced mom of five may challenge RIAA (15 August 2005)

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Discuss this article!
DXR88 (Senior Member) 29 April 2009 21:09
*Quote:* The RIAA eventually dropped the case against her, but decided to sue two of her children, Michelle and Robert, aged 20 and 16 at the time. It said that Michelle had admitted piracy in a deposition and that Robert had been implicated by a family friend. They denied wrongdoing. However, since both are now in college and feel that the case is holding them back, they agreed to pay $7,000 in damages. dumb kids... [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 29 April 2009 21:10
ivymike (Member) 29 April 2009 21:23
Greedy Bastards. I hope that the Hammer of God strikes down these evil corporate bastards. [ + quote]
EricCarr (Member) 30 April 2009 2:20
They should tell them to piss off and not pay a single cent! [ + quote]
Blackjax (Member) 30 April 2009 2:50
"We don't break out costs per case, and it's not a question of it being 'worth it' or a 'victory.'" translation: We spent an arm and leg and looked like an amorous monkey with a greased football but we got some money from our valued consumers. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30 April 2009 2:51
beanos66 (Junior Member) 30 April 2009 6:49
students expected to pay $530 a month on top of living costs and tuition fees. Hope these multimillionaire execs. artists and lawyers are happy when they can't continue their education [ + quote]
llongtheD (Member) 30 April 2009 21:53
It just goes to show you how broken our legal system is. Cases like this are no longer decided in the realm of rationality, but by petty laws dreamed up by corporations and trial lawyers. Does anyone with an IQ above 35 actually believe the RIAA actually lost $7,000 dollars from the alleged uploading of this music? I hope those grease balls are proud of themselves. How do they sleep at night? If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30 April 2009 21:54