Reuters: Damages of $1.9 million could backfire on music industry

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: bobr () bobrosenberg phoenix az us
Date: June 21, 2009 3:10:45 AM EDT
To: "Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>
Subject: Reuters:  Damages of $1.9 million could backfire on music  
industry

Hi Dave

Perhaps for I.P.

As H.V. Kaltenborn used to say, "There's good news tonight"!

Cheers,
Bob

--
Bob Rosenberg
P.O. Box 33023
Phoenix, AZ  85067-3023
Mobile:  602-206-2856
LandLine:  602-274-3012
bob () bobrosenberg phoenix az us



Damages of $1.9 million could backfire on music industry
Sat Jun 20, 2009 11:23pm EDT
By Ben Sheffner
http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSTRE55K07E20090621

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - The recording industry secured a resounding  
victory last
week when a Minneapolis jury awarded the four major labels $1.92  
million in damages
after unanimously finding that a 32-year-old mother had willfully  
infringed on their
copyrights by downloading and sharing 24 songs on the Kazaa peer-to- 
peer network.

But a question arose after the verdict about whether the sheer size of  
the damages
could lead to a backlash against an industry that is already portrayed  
in some
quarters as overreaching. Sony BMG attorney Wade Leak, who testified  
at the trial,
said he was "shocked" by the damages award.

No one expects that the labels will collect the entire amount from  
Jammie
Thomas-Rasset, a 32-year-old Brainerd, Minn., mother of four who  
testified during
the retrial that her ex-boyfriend or sons, then 8 and 10, were most  
likely
responsible for downloading and distributing the songs. Thomas-Rasset  
lost her
previous trial in 2007 and was ordered to pay $222,000, only to  
achieve a
now-pyrrhic victory when the court tossed the verdict because of a  
faulty jury
instruction.

Even for law-abiding citizens who believe that labels have every right  
to protect
their copyrights, a verdict of almost $2 million could be hard to  
swallow. Indeed,
the Recording Industry Assn. of America said it was willing to reach a  
settlement
with Thomas-Rasset, as it had been all along.

The Copyright Act provides for awards of statutory damages of up to  
$150,000 per
infringed work, in the case of willful infringement. A number of  
copyright scholars
on the "copyleft," led by Harvard Law School's Charles Nesson, have  
argued that such
damages awards for personal use of file-sharing networks are  
excessive. Though no
court has yet adopted that theory, the Thomas-Rasset verdict provides  
a very human
face to the argument, which she will likely pursue on appeal if the  
case isn't
settled.

...



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