RIAA v. Charter Communications Archive

The RIAA sought to force the Missouri ISP, Charter Communications, to turn over the identities of its customers who the RIAA believed had engaged in peer to peer filesharing.

Outcome: 8th Circuit Court of Appeals held that RIAA could not use pre-litigation DMCA subpoenas and instead must file regular lawsuits, explicitly applying the rule of RIAA v. Verizon.

• Amicus Brief of U.S. (PDF 242k - February 24, 2004)
• Brief of Appellee RIAA (PDF 166k - February 24, 2004)
• ISPs' Brief in Support of Charter (PDF 1.3M - January 26, 2004)
• Consumer and Privacy Groups' Brief in Support of Charter (PDF - January 26, 2004)
• Appellant's Brief (PDF 582k - January 15, 2004)
• RIAA Eighth Circuit Opening Brief (PDF 952k - January 6, 2004)
• Charter Motion to Quash Subpoena (PDF 204k)
• Charter Memorandum in Support of Motion to Quash (PDF 960k)
• Charter Motion for Protective Order (PDF 200k)
• Charter Memorandum in Support of Motion for Protective Order (PDF 820k)
• RIAA Memorandum in Opposition to Charter's Motion for Protective Order (PDF 606k)
• RIAA Opposition to Motion to Quash
• RIAA Exhibits
• Charter Reply in Further Support of Motion to Quash
• Motion to quash denied without written opinion
  • Motion for Summary Reversal (PDF 39k - December 23, 2003)
  • RIAA's Opposition (PDF 95k - January 6, 2004)
• Petition for Rehearing February 18, 2005
• 8th Circuit DecisionJanuary 4, 2005