[Infowarrior] - Judge dismisses malicious prosecution lawsuit against RIAA

[Richard Forno]

Judge dismisses malicious prosecution lawsuit against RIAA

By Eric Bangeman | Published: February 20, 2008 - 03:46PM CT

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080220-judge-dismisses-malicious-pros
ecution-lawsuit-against-riaa.html

Exonerated RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen ran into a bit of a roadblock
yesterday in an attempt to pursue her malicious prosecution lawsuit against
the RIAA and MediaSentry. After a hearing, a federal judge dismissed
Andersen's complaint, giving her 30 days to refile it with more specifics as
to which laws the RIAA and MediaSentry are alleged to have violated.

Andersen filed her lawsuit this past August after the RIAA voluntarily
dismissed its own file-sharing lawsuit. Andersen, a disabled single mother,
was sued in February 2005, and the resulting case became one of the most
closely-watched battles between the RIAA and suspected copyright infringers.
After the case was dismissed, Andersen won an attorneys' fees award, which
was reaffirmed last month.

Andersen's complaint recounts a litany of misdeeds allegedly perpetrated by
the record labels in the course of their lawsuit. Those include trying to
contact her young daughter at school and her apartment building without
Andersen's knowledge or permission. The RIAA was also accused of libel,
negligence, and fraud.

The RIAA hailed the judge's ruling. "The court's decision to dismiss all of
the claims in their entirety merely serves to confirm our view that the
claims were meritless when they were filed," an RIAA spokesperson told Ars.

Tanya Andersen

In her ruling, Judge Anna J. Brown said that Andersen had "not adequately
stated claims for relief," but gave her until March 14, 2008, to file an
amended complaint. Lory Lybeck, Andersen's attorney, told Ars that he plans
to refile and move ahead with the lawsuit. "The judge spent about 45 minutes
to an hour discussing exactly what she was looking for in an amended
complaint," Lybeck said.

In particular, Judge Brown is looking for more specificity around the
slander claims, according to Lybeck, who also noted that the judge was "very
knowledgeable" about the RIAA's legal campaign. He still believes that
Andersen has a very strong case against both the record labels and
MediaSentry. "The real case is that they blundered by misidentifying
Andersen," he told Ars.