Whole school sued for copyright infringement

by Ty Bair

Early Monday morning, very nearly every member of the Idaho Law community, including professors, students, administrative staff, clinic personnel, and custodians, was served with a “settlement letter” from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which seeks damages for alleged violations of artist copyrights. The charges come in response to the recent arrest of Sean “Moscova Bazaar” Beck, who has for the last two years sold thousands of pieces of illegally copied music, movies, and novelty items in the basement of the Menard College of Law Building.
The accusations themselves are varied. 1L Andreus Schou is accused of downloading 1983’s Huey Lewis and the News work, Sports, the original release of which he actually remembers. 3L William Fletcher allegedly downloaded “dozens” of tracks by songstress Sarah McLachlan, including four different live versions of “Building a Mystery.” The only student who has not been charged with copyright infringement is 3L Lindsey Simon, who, astonishingly, paid for the sound tracks to High School Musical and High School Musical 2.
Some students have already moved to settle. 3L student Mindy Willman admits she downloaded the explicit version of NWA’s Straight Outta Compton, which is actually pretty awesome. Not surprisingly, 2L Neal Burns denied having downloaded the sound track to The Little Mermaid. Sole Canadian, Danielle Rowand, denies RIAA’s allegation that she downloaded Bryan Adams’s entire discography, although she admits to having downloaded a lot of Tragically Hip and Barenaked Ladies tracks.
Reactions to the RIAA’s actions have been mixed. Local musician “Hair Metal” Luke B. expressed support, although he declined to give his full name to this reporter, for fear of his safety. “I’ve worked for a lot of years to cultivate a hard-rock persona. It’s bullshit that someone can just download a copy of Appetite for Destruction and start aping my style without spending a penny. I bought that album on cassette!”
Mr. B. then threw the horns.
Other musicians were more ambivalent. “Fuck the RIAA. I’ve never made any money off music and they shouldn’t either,” said singer-songwriter Trent B., who also declined to give his full name.
The actual effect of the RIAA’s legal threats may be minimal. Most members of the College of Law community, with the obvious exception of Katherine Spenner, are totally judgment proof. Furthermore, intellectual property experts Professors Bridy and Anderson note RIAA will probably sue a number of students across the street for every one of us it sues, potentially making us a long-term profit by drumming up business. Professor Anderson is himself accused of trademark violation, having marketed a signature line of yellow and red silk neckties, allegedly in violation of an existing trademark.
In related news, Motion Picture Association of America process servers have thus far failed in their attempts to serve a complaint on Professor Williams, whom they accuse of downloading and watching the entire series run of Sex and the City. Twice.