The recording industry is bringing to bear the full might of its lobbying and litigation power. And one defendant, Joel Tenenbaum, is fighting back with the help of Leading Internet lawyer, Charles Nesson, and a team of his students.
Gertner’s Ruling on Damages
Posted by Debbie Rosenbaum
Almost five months after we last sat in Judge Gertner’s courtroom requesting that she either reduce the damages or award a new trial, Judge Gertner finally made a long-awaited ruling today.
In our motion to the court, we argued that that the jury’s award of $675,000 in statutory damages was grossly excessive and thus violated the Due Process Clause. In her decision, Judge Gertner agreed, and reduced the damages Joel owes to $67,500 — one-tenth the original sum.
“Reducing the jury’s $675,000 award,” she wrote, “also sends another no less important message: The Due Process Clause does not merely protect large corporations, like BMW and State Farm, from grossly excessive punitive awards. It also protects ordinary people like Joel Tenenbaum.”
Judge Gertner noted that $675,000 was far greater than necessary to serve the government’s legitimate interests in compensating copyright owners and deterring infringement. In fact, she called the damages previously awarded “simply unprecedented and oppressive.”
We feel vindicated that Judge Gertner agreed that $675,000 was an unconstitutional award. But it is only a step along the way toward recognizing the abusiveness of the RIAA’s litigation campaign. The next step is to demonstrate that Joel was denied a fair jury trial when Judge Gertner told the jury in her instructions that it could award an unconstitutionally excessive amount.
A $67,500 pricetag for 30 songs is still a bill Joel cannot afford. Even Judge Gertner added, “Significantly, this amount is more than I might have awarded in my independent judgment.”
Songs on iTunes are about $.99-$1.29 a piece. What do you think of Judge Gertner’s decision? Chime in under comments or email us at joelfightsback@gmail.com.
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Mail Reflections
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Here’s one email we received this morning:
For all the reading I’ve done on the internet, I can’t help …
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