Magistrate: Blogging Lawyer ‘Veered into Hyperbole,’ But Shouldn't Be Sanctioned
A federal magistrate judge in New York says a blogging lawyer sometimes “veered into hyperbole and gratuitous attacks on the recording industry” but he doesn’t deserve to be sanctioned for his conduct.
The lawyer, Ray Beckerman, filed motions broadly attacking the recording industry and then posted them on his blog, according to Wired’s Threat Level blog. U.S. Magistrate Robert Levy found that Beckerman “took an unusually aggressive stance,” but said there was no clear evidence of bad faith in his occasional hyperbole.
Beckerman’s client, Marie Lindor, was accused of sharing copyrighted music through a file sharing program. The suit, filed by the Recording Industry Association of America, has since been dropped. “Although I am concerned that defendant and her counsel were less than forthcoming at times,” Levy wrote in his order (PDF), “both sides bear some responsibility for escalating the hostilities and turning what should have been a routine file sharing case into an unnecessarily protracted dispute.”
Levy also ruled against Beckerman’s counterclaim alleging the RIAA was a vexatious litigant, according to Threat Level. “Plaintiffs have doggedly pursued their copyright infringement claim, but I find no evidence of undue vexatiousness or ill motive on their part,” Levy said.
Beckerman covered the ruling at his blog, Recording Industry vs. The People.
