Quite a development recently. To backtrack, Century Media has filed a lawsuit in the state of New Jersey seeking damages over illegal downloads of Lacuna Coil's Dark Adrenaline and Iced Earth's Dystopia (without the band's consent).
Last week, 944 subpoenas were presented to Judge Faith S. Hochberg and all but one "John Doe" were rejected by the judge, for these reasons:
Hochberg, in her October 10 ruling, said that the case appeared to be a misjoinder, finding that "there must be a connection between defendants beyond the copyrighted work and method of distribution, namely that defendants were involved in the same transaction with the same downloader at the same time."
In the case, Hochberg said that she would sever all Doe defendants except the first Doe of the suit "without prejudice," permitting the plaintiff to bring the claim again in conformity with the rules set forth by the judge.
That was pulled from a report Blabbermouth filed. It seems those 943 sparred defendants are not in the clear yet, as the Century Media lawyers can still pull together evidence proving their guilt. But it won't be an easy process for Century Media.
This case is far from over, as over 7,000 downloaders were initially claimed as being filed suit against, but it's clearly not going to be an easy battle for Century Media, leaving the question: is this even worth it?
