Rightscorp DMCA letters are sent daily to hundreds, maybe thousands of internet users. In my “All I Know About Rightscorp in One Page” master article, I got into a discussion about the awkwardness of hiring a Rightscorp settlement attorney because of the disproportionate fees paid to our Cashman Law Firm, PLLC to facilitate and handle the settlement versus the sometime miniscule actual settlement payment that ends up being paid to Rightscorp. Because that discussion took too much space on that article, I cut it and pasted it here.
Rightscorp vs. CEG-TEK Settlement Amounts
When representing a client in a CEG-TEK DMCA settlement demand notice (Rightscorp DMCA letters), clients would come with 3-20 notices (and at $300/claim, the settlement asking price was $900-$6,000 before settlement negotiations). Thus, representing a client and having the client pay our fees made sense.
Not so with a Rightscorp DMCA letters, with the same type of downloader who received those same 3-20 notices at CEG-TEK. At a promoted $20/claim [if the accused downloader foregoes using an attorney to negotiate the claims against them], the settlement asking price appears to be only $60-$400. The later request for “additional titles downloaded” and whatever else is to follow after the settlement is paid is not immediately apparent to them.
Thus, when representing a Rightscorp client dealing with one of their Rightscorp DMCA letters, our fee appears to be disproportionately large to what appears to be only a $20 problem.
Why to hire a Rightscorp settlement attorney for even ONE (1) Rightscorp DMCA notice.
In Rightscorp DMCA letters, they have recently adopted the practice of attempting to lure the accused downloader with a lower settlement amount ($20/instance of infringement vs. $75/infringed title) if he foregoes retaining an attorney. However, that $20 is deceptive, because it is “per instance of infringement,” along with all of the other reasons Rightscorp is likely not your friend (click here and scroll to see what Rightscorp has done in the past to see how friendly they really are).
In the end, even for a Rightscorp client who received only one of their Rightscorp DMCA letters [ONE settlement demand letter] (where there is no negotiation), the end cost — even at $75/title — ends up being significantly less, especially with settlement negotiations, although it is difficult for me to prove this. In sum, I wrote this article because the potential client who received even one (1) of the Rightscorp DMCA letters should be aware of the reasons why they are hiring our firm.
[DISCLAIMER: ***Just To Be Clear*** When I use the phrase “Rightscorp settlement attorney,” in no way do I imply that our law firm has any affiliation with Rightscorp, nor do we represent their interests in any capacity. The term “Rightscorp settlement attorney” was simply a convenient way to put this article in front of someone who receives Rightscorp DMCA letters for songs downloaded via bittorrent, and they are trying various search engine keywords to learn which attorney can facilitate an anonymous settlement. “Rightscorp settlement attorney” seemed to capture the essence of the audience we intended to write for, namely, internet users who want to settle claims of copyright infringement from the Rightscorp DMCA letters they received.]
Why you are not hiring an attorney:
First, benefits a client receives… but these are NOT why they are hiring our firm. For a Rightscorp defendant who received one (1) of their Rightscorp DMCA letters, you are NOT hiring a Rightscorp settlement attorney to:
1) negotiate the settlement amount (paying an attorney sometimes to negotiate a $75 settlement to possibly $65 or $50 is silly);
2) to settle anonymously (technically, you do not need an attorney to accomplish this goal, as these days you can pay your settlement using a credit card obtained without your name on it).
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Why you ARE hiring an attorney (even for one (1) of their Rightscorp DMCA letters):
Obviously when we can negotiate the settlement price, we do. And, the settlement negotiations are negotiated anonymously, and are paid anonymously, meaning that Rightscorp will never learn your identity or that you settled the claims against you. That way, they will never be able to contact your ISP to shut down your account claiming you are an infringer, and they will never be able to vindictively harm you after a settlement or ask you for more money. However, these are not the reasons you hired our law firm to handle the Rightscorp DMCA letters you received.
You ARE hiring a Rightscorp settlement attorney to facilitate and handle the settlement in a way that does not admit guilt on your behalf (when needed, we will negotiate the terms of the agreement to suit your circumstances). More importantly, we settle the claims against you in a way that puts Rightscorp, and their BMG Music, Sony Records, and the other music copyright holder clients ON NOTICE that the settlement we processed on your behalf was done by our Cashman Law Firm, PLLC.
What is the benefit of putting everyone ON NOTICE that you are represented by an attorney?
Putting everyone ON NOTICE means that all future communications will need to come directly through our firm, and not to you. Should these companies’ lawyers contact you directly, this would be a breach of the ethics rules which could cost them their law licenses.
Preventing other “games” played against those who settle.
Most importantly, by having a Rightscorp settlement attorney such as myself settle the Rightscorp claims on your behalf, this prevents any further “games” or activities that may occur (e.g., asking for additional settlement money for other titles allegedly downloaded, robocalling, or contacting the ISPs to shut down the internet accounts of those who paid a settlement to Rightscorp).
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Why $75/song is comparatively better than the alternatives (even the $20/infringement if you forego using an attorney).
In sum, representing a Rightscorp client still takes time, but the fact that the accused downloader is only paying a $75 settlement amount (or some minuscule dollar amount compared to the thousands of dollars which are paid in the movie lawsuits and DMCA settlement demand notices), this should be a happy fact. Why happy? Be happy that you were not sued, that you are not dealing with a CEG-TEK or RIGHTSENFORCEMENT ($300/movie title) scenario, and that you were merely caught downloading just a few songs, where the settlement amount will be $75/song.
I don’t know where to put this in the article, so if you have read to the end (here), you get my personal opinion. Personally, I think it is slimy for Rightscorp to charge you $75 per song if you use an attorney. However, based on what they have done in the past, I half expected them to try to devise a way to lure and trap defendants into their settlement scheme, and having me contact them is definitely on behalf of a client is definitely a monkey-wrench in their plan. If you wish to contact me about your Rightscorp issue, please click here for instructions on how to contact me. If you would like to jump directly to scheduling a phone appointment for us to speak about your matter (I do not charge for these, but these are not sales calls and my time is limited), please click here.