When attorney John Hermann took on his first music piracy lawsuit recently on behalf of a woman who was being sued by the music industry, he was skeptical.
"I thought I was the only one stupid enough to take on one of these cases," he recalled.
He was wrong.
In the last year-particularly in the last six months-a growing number of defendants have refused to settle music industry suits, challenging what they allege are groundless lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In the last two years, the RIAA has filed 14,800 lawsuits against individuals for illegally downloading and distributing copyrighted music on the Internet. While the RIAA holds that most suits settle, attorneys note that many defendants have started fighting back.
Details here from the National Law Journal.