Friday, January 29, 2010

Reported that RIAA will ask for a 3rd trial in Capitol Records v Thomas

According to news reports, the RIAA has announced that it will elect not to accept a judgment for $54,000, but to instead go for a new trial, limited to the issue of the appropriate amount of statutory damages.

I checked the court's docket on PACER and found no confirmation of this.

[Ed. note. In my opinion, the Court erred in (a) failing to decide the constitutional question, and decide that even the minimum statutory damages of $750 would be unconstitutionally excessive under the due process clause as against actual damages of 35 cents, and (b) permitting a new trial at all. Even if the Court could find a permissible rationale for declining to decide the constitutional question, which it can't, there is still no way under existing copyright law any award of more than $750 could be legally sustainable. So even under that scenario the judge should be directing judgment for $18,000, not setting himself up for another circus. -R.B.]


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Thursday, January 28, 2010

RIAA asks for extensions of time in Tenenbaum & in Thomas-Rasset cases

The RIAA's lawyers have asked for extensions of time in both Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset and SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum.

In Tenenbaum they've twice asked for extensions of time in which to respond to Tenenbaum's remittitur motion, and in Thomas-Rasset they've asked for an extension of time in which to decide whether to accept or to challenge the reduced $54,000 verdict.

SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum second RIAA request for extension of time to answer remittitur motion
Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset RIAA request for extension of time in which to make up its mind about accepting or challenging reduced verdict

[Ed. note. What's the problem? Not enough lawyers? - R.B.]







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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Reported that RIAA agreed to settle against Jammie Thomas-Rasset for $25,000

According to this report in p2pnet.net, the RIAA offered to accept $25,000 in full settlement of Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset, and the offer was turned down.

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Saturday, January 23, 2010

"Recording Industry vs The People" can now be subscribed to on Kindle

"Recording Industry vs The People" can now be subscribed to on Kindle:

http://is.gd/6SUrh


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Friday, January 22, 2010

Jammie Thomas verdict reduced from $1.92M to $54,000

In Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset, the Judge has reduced the verdict from $1.92 million to $54,000.

The Judge did not reach the constitutional due process issue raised by Ms. Thomas-Rasset's counsel, instead deciding the motion based upon standard principles of "remittitur". The judge described the standard for remittitur as follows:

so grossly excessive as to shock the conscience of the court. A verdict is not considered excessive unless there is plain injustice or a monstrous or shocking result

In discussing the factors upon which his decision rested, Judge Davis indicated that he had found that Ms. Thomas-Rasset lied under oath.

Judge Davis also indicated that he found even the reduced amount to be "harsh" and that, were he -- rather than a jury -- deciding the appropriate measure of damages, the award might well have been even lower than $54,000. But he felt that since the jury had determined the damages, it was his province to determine only the maximum amount a jury could reasonably award.

The RIAA has 7 days to decide whether to accept the reduced verdict, or to request a new trial.

Decision granting remittitur


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[Ed. note. The decision is a thoughtful one, and vindicates the principle that statutory damages under the Copyright Act must be reasonably proportioned to the actual damages. But this verdict is still 6428 times the actual damages, and therefore continues to be excessive. I do not feel the Court had an option of avoiding the constitutional question, since even the $750 minimum statutory damages is ~2200 times the actual damages flowing from an unauthorized download of an mp3 file. -R.B.]



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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Dept of Justice files brief opposing motion to set aside verdict in Tenenbaum

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Department of Justice has filed a brief opposing defendant's motion to set aside the verdict on constitutional grounds.

Department of Justice opposition brief

[Ed. Note. Another low-class "ostrich" brief from the Department of Justice, which completely ignores (a) the wording and reasoning of the Supreme Court in Gore and Campbell, (b) the half dozen or so cases, and three law review articles, concluding that Gore and Campbell are applicable to statutory damages cases, (c) the absence of evidence of any "distribution" within the meaning of the Copyright Act, and (d) the actual holding, the actual facts, and the actual statute, in St. Louis v. Williams. I.e., the things we mentioned in the revised amicus curiae brief which we filed on behalf of the Free Software Foundation.

Completely unprofessional; indeed pathetic.

Fortunately, Judge Gertner is an eminent Constitutional Law scholar, and has demonstrated time and again that she is anything but lazy, and that even when the lawyers in the case do a lousy job, she and her staff will actually do the research and find the applicable law.

I haven't always agreed with her decisions, and the major body of her work in the consolidated RIAA cases has been very helpful to the RIAA, but she has demonstrated time and again that she is the best lawyer in this case. -R.B.]


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Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Price fixing case against RIAA reinstated by 2nd Circuit

Hat tip to @cbcalvin on Twitter, and betanews:

In Starr v. SONY BMG Music Entertainment, an antitrust class action against the RIAA, the complaint -- dismissed at the District Court level -- has been reinstated by the Second Circuit.

Among other things, the Appeals court noted the following allegations:

First, defendants agreed to launch MusicNet and pressplay, both of which charged unreasonably high prices and contained similar DRMs. Second, none of the defendants dramatically reduced their prices for Internet Music (as compared to CDs), despite the fact that all defendants experienced dramatic cost reductions in producing Internet Music. Third, when defendants began to sell Internet Music through entities they did not own or control, they maintained the same unreasonably high prices and DRMs as MusicNet itself. Fourth, defendants used MFNs in their licenses that had the effect of guaranteeing that the licensor who signed the MFN received terms no less favorable than terms offered to other licensors. For example, both EMI and UMG used MFN clauses in their licensing agreements with MusicNet. Fifth, defendants used the MFNs to enforce a wholesale price floor of about 70 cents per song. Sixth, all defendants refuse to do business with eMusic, the #2 Internet Music retailer. Seventh, in or about May 2005, all defendants raised wholesale prices from about $0.65 per song to $0.70 per song. This price increase was enforced by MFNs.
January 13, 2010, Opinion of US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit





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Monday, January 11, 2010

Samuelson,Wheatland "Statutory Damages in Copyright Law: A Remedy in Need of Reform" 51 Wm & Mary L Rev 439

The article by Pamela Samuelson and Tara Wheatland of the University of California law school, on statutory damages under the Copyright Act, has now been published at 51 William & Mary L. Rev. 439, and is available for download:

Samuelson & Wheatland, "Statutory Damages in Copyright Law: A Remedy in Need of Reform"



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Monday, January 04, 2010

Tenenbaum files motion for new trial attacking constitutionality of jury's award

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, defendant has filed a motion for new trial, attacking, among other things, the constitutionality of the jury's award as being violative of due process.

Motion for new trial

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