Judge Orders Consolidation of 2 AHRA Suits Against Automakers
Two separate Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC) lawsuits alleging several automakers violated the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA) were consolidated into one in an order signed Monday by U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Ford and General Motors…
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and their respective suppliers Clarion and Denso violated the AHRA because they shipped vehicles with CD-copying hard drives without building the Serial Copy Management System into the devices or paying the Copyright Office the required royalties on the hardware's wholesale price, AARC alleged in a July lawsuit (see 1410140084). AARC filed a second complaint in November repeating many of the same allegations against Chrysler and its supplier Mitsubishi. In consolidating the two cases, Brown did so “without prejudice to any future motion to bifurcate proceedings for the purpose of trial,” her order said. Lawyers for Chrysler and Mitsubishi argued the two cases involve "common issues of fact and common questions of law." Brown asked all sides to show cause why the cases shouldn't be combined, and no one objected (see 1501280047).