Yout Says It Urgently Needs Stay in RIAA Motion for Attorneys’ Fees

Yout is in such dire financial straits that it urgently needs the stay it requested, pending appeal, in Recording Industry Association of America’s motion for attorney fees, said the YouTube-ripping software company’s reply Thursday (docket 3:20-cv-01602) in U.S. District Court for Connecticut. RIAA, which opposes the stay, said it spent more than $250,000 in lawyers’ fees defending what it called Yout’s “meritless” lawsuit for a declaratory judgment that its software doesn't violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2211230003). Yout is appealing to the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals the district court’s granting of RIAA’s motion to dismiss. It’s asking for a stay “so as not to have to face collections proceedings while simultaneously funding and supporting an appeal,” it said. Yout owes “a significant amount in attorneys’ fees” to Mudd Law, the firm that lost the district court case, it said. Yout paid Boston Law Group an initial $15,000 retainer to handle its 2nd Circuit appeal, with additional monthly payments of $7,000 as needed against which Boston Law Group will bill hourly, said a declaration by Yout founder Johnathan Nader. “At this time, I am funding this litigation almost entirely from my personal funds,” he said. “Yout is not generating any revenue beyond meeting its expenses and I have been depositing funds from my personal accounts in order to cover those expenses when needed,” he said.