The RIAA left behind a mess when it dropped its file-sharing case against single, disabled mother Tanya Andersen last June – and now, a federal magistrate judge says the RIAA must clean it up, to the tune of $107,834 in attorneys’ fees and court costs.

Andersen initially sought almost $300,000, as her attorney argued for a doubled fee due to a “high-risk, successful” defense. RIAA attorneys said the case was nothing more than a “straightforward copyright infringement claim,” and that Andersen’s claims were “excessive.”

Peer-to-peer news site p2pnet said the decision was effectively a “default victory” for other file-sharing defendants and their attorneys, who now know that if they prevail, “they’ll be paid for their work.”

“This will assist in levelling the playing field in other cases,” said Lory Lybeck, who is serving as Andersen’s lawyer.

The RIAA originally filed suit against Andersen in August 2005, claiming that either she or her nine-year-old daughter were downloading gangster rap under the username “gotenkito.” Andersen denied these claims, and forensic experts failed to find any evidence of file-sharing on her computer.

Andersen instead opted to strike back shortly afterwards, accusing the RIAA of violating federal anti-racketeering laws, among other charges, in October 2005. Eventually, her claims were rescinded and rolled into a separate class-action lawsuit, causing the court to rule them ineligible for award: “Andersen sought voluntary dismissal of those counterclaims in order to pursue them in a separate action,” wrote Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta in his ruling (PDF). “An award of fees on those claims is premature as there has been no adjudication of those counterclaims.”

They may be several more rounds of between Andersen and the record industry, however, as the RIAA can choose to file objections up until May 27. A similar case, Capitol v. Foster, netted $68,000 for exonerated defendant Debbie Foster’s attorney, but only after a considerable amount of back-and-forth.