filesharing cases @USA:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_v._Thomas / verdict: $1.92m; ended in a mistrial. But in that case, the judge commented that he believed that the damages sought were something like 1000 times excessive. / Earlier this year (2009), Jammie Thomas Rasset was found guilty of illegally sharing 24 songs via Kazaa. She was ordered to pay a total of $1.92m, or $80,000 per song.
2. RIAA vs Tenenbaum (aj ked v PDFkach je Capitol Recs)
* DMCA act of 1999: (1) $750-$30,000 per song; (2) $750-$150,000 per song if the infringement was “willful”
* T shared mp3s via Kazaa
* 2003, RIAA starts new business-plan, T received a notice (from Sony BMG, Warner, Atlantic Records, Arista Records, and UMG Records) claiming “copyright infringement”, and told him that he could settle the case for $3,500 (via 1-800-DONT-SUE-ME-style call centre). He offered $500, and sent a money order in that amount. That offer was denied.
* 30,000 people have been accused and almost every single case has settled. * The average settlement is between $3,000 – $12,000. * There are actually 133 people in the same docket as Joel (??)
* In 2007, a complaint showed up on his doorstep after years of silence requiring that Joel appear in court. Rather than backing down, like the other 30,000 people, Joel chose to stand his ground and elected to proceed pro se with the help of his mother. Joel filed an answer with a counterclaim asserting abuse of federal power and that the excessive damages were unconstitutional. Joel appeared in court where the Judge ordered the parties into settlement. In the settlement, Joel offered to settle for $5,000. The opposing counsel denied and counter-offered a settlement of $10,500 to be paid over 1 year. Joel declined.
* Aug 2007 – suit filed, accusing T of C infringement for the downloading of 7 music files
* Shortly before the trial, the RIAA increased the number of songs he was being sued for from 7 to 30.
* last week of July 2009 (till 31st) – trial: T is guilty; $675,000 award (jury decided to go to the lower end of willful and chose $22,500 a song); T admitted he down’ed many mp3s; lawyer Charles Nesson said he was a ‘kid’ and internet changed things and music industry had been ‘slow to adapt’; T claimed the law under which he is being prosecuted is unconstitutional
* next: appeal, if fail then file for bankruptcy
Joel Tenenbaum – *1983, @Providence RI, MA in phy+math @Maryland, currently PhD phy
JP Barlow/EFF @ court as expert:
– “economics of ‘file-sharing’ can work to the great benefit of musicians and creators”
– Grateful Dead let audience tape their shows and invented ‘viral marketing’, solving the advertising problem
– internet/p2p “allow us to do which we, as humans, fundamentally need to do: share art”
– “music industry will never be endangered because [..] we as humans absolutely require music, and because in the music business as i know it, familiarity, not scarcity, creates value”
– “online world presents us with a ‘gift economy’, where no moral blameworthiness attaches to non-commercial sharing, and [..] this does not threaten the music industry”
– “recording industry is complicit in allowing itself to hold on to antiquated business models rather than adjust to the changing landscape around them”
Nesson, 2009: RIAA is shifting strategy – contract deals with ISPs, three strike rule ~ 3 times infringes copyright and you’re cut off internet
in email debate the copyleft experts (whom Nesson had planned to call as expert witnesses to testify on Tenenbaum’s behalf) tell Nesson in no uncertain terms that his plan to mount a fair use defense of Tenenbaum’s peer-to-peer activities is a sure legal loser.
* Lessig urges Nesson to argue for outright jury nullification: “I am surprised if the intent is to fight this case as if what joel did was not against the law. of course it was against the law, and you do the law too much kindness by trying to pretend (or stretch) “fair use” excuses what he did. It doesn’t. But if you want to argue it does, then I should think it a big mistake to include Terry on the team, or me for that matter. I have given literally hundreds of speeches where I expressly say p2p filesharing is wrong, and kids shouldn’t do it. I think FREE CULTURE says that more than a dozen times. ”
* William Fisher [proposes replacing much of copyright and DRM with a gov-administered tax-funded reward system, making songs/movies legal to download; pro semiotic democracy]: “neither civil suits against individual downloaders nor secondary-liability suits against intermediaries will solve the crisis in the entertainment industry. The best solution to the crisis, rather, is some variant of the blanket licensing system that I, Neil Netanel, and the EFF have been advocating for some time and that now appear to be gaining some traction.”
lessons:
* you don’t have to accept phone contact from the RIAA lawyers, but could demand correspondence by mail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIAA_v._Tenenbaum
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jul/27/filesharing-music-industry
JP Barlow: http://beckermanlegal.com/pdf/?file=/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/sony_tenenbaum_090410ExpertWitnessReportBarlow.pdf
Nesson, Lessig, Zittrain, Barlow, etc: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13831120/Nessonblog33009