San Francisco - Digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed a brief with a federal court in New York, asking a judge to allow the target of a music industry file-sharing lawsuit to file counterclaims alleging the industry's lawsuit was a misuse of copyrights and intended to harass him.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has already moved to dismiss the copyright infringement lawsuit it filed against Rolando Amurao, but Amurao is seeking his day in court, to clear his name and argue that the labels misused their copyrights in filing their lawsuit in the first place.

The EFF's brief does not address the merits of the case -- whether Amurao is guilty of copyright infringement -- but argues that he should be able to go forward with his counterclaims.

"Using questionable methods and suspect evidence, the RIAA has targeted thousands of ordinary people around the country, including grandmothers, grandfathers, single mothers and teenagers," the EFF wrote in its brief.

"Careless copyright plaintiffs will think twice before filing suit if they know that voluntary dismissal will not shield them from the consequences of carelessly dragging individuals into federal court."

Related Links:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_04.php#005195

http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/lava_v_amurao/lava_amicus.pdf