Santangelo: The Next Generation

Filed in archive Legal , People on February 12, 2007

The recording industry's lawsuits against the Santangelo family epitomize what is wrong with RIAA's war against music fans. The Suits pit an industry with billions of dollars against a mother and her teenage children with limited means. Because it's in federal court it's not a one time trial but an ongoing legal battle that has been going on for almost two years now.

RIAA first sued mother Patricia (pictured). When that turned out to be a bust they dropped her and turned on her kids. Son Bobby now has struck back. He countersued, accusing RIAA of antitrust violations, conspiracy, and extortion, and requested trial by jury, which surely is a losing proposition for RIAA.

In his suits he says the record labels, "ostensibly competitors in the recording industry, are a cartel acting collusively in violation of the antitrust laws and public policy." They have engaged in a "wide-ranging conspiracy to defraud the courts of the United States ... by entering into an unlawful agreement among themselves to prosecute and to dispose of all cases in an identical manner and through common lawyers."