RIAA Victory Over Usenet In Copyright Case

ozydingo writes: The RIAA scored a victory in a decision on a copyright case that the RIAA filed on October 12, U.S. District Judge Harold Baer ruled in favor of the music industry on all its main theories: that Usenet.com is guilty of direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement. In addition, and perhaps most important for future cases, Baer said that Usenet.com can't claim protection under the Sony Betamax decision stating that companies can't be held liable of contributory infringement if the device is "capable of significant non-infringing uses." Bear noted that Usenet.com differed from Sony in that the sale of a Betamax recorder was a one-time done deal, while Usenet.com's interaction with its users was ongoing relationship. The RIAA stated in a brief note 'We're pleased that the court recognized not just that Usenet.com directly infringed the record companies' copyrights but also took action against the defendants for their egregious litigation misconduct.'