First RIAA lawsuit heads to trial

The RIAA has filed more than 14,000 lawsuits but few have gone to trial. Now one woman is fighting the lobbying group in court.

But the RIAA has been wrong before, as it was in its 2003 suit against Sarah Seabury Ward, a sixty-something sculptor who was accused of downloading gangsta rap. The suit was eventually withdrawn, but the case (and others like it, including one against a dead grandmother) does shed some doubt on the RIAA's ability to correctly identify the infringing party. With Santangelo's case now headed for trial, a judge's ruling may provide more clarity about what the RIAA can and cannot do in its war on musical piracy.

First RIAA lawsuit heads to trial More from the legal angle