So what happened, Joel? Where are you now?

It’s been a while since my last post and you might wonder what’s happened in the meantime. Since October 2011, I’ve made trips to visit family and friends, filed the …

Music Piracy Not That Bad, Industry Says

“The Internet has been a blessing for the music industry. Although the RIAA and IFPI frequently complain about piracy, their own research shows that only 10% of all illegal …

Jason Harrow: Day 2: It’s all about statutory damages

Reposted from JUST ENRICHMENT

After a first day that was full of panels focused mostly on the business aspects of the music crisis, today the lawyers gave their views on the problems facing the music industry. With cleverly named sessions like “The Current State of Copyright Law,” and “The Future of Copyright Law,” and with preeminent copyright thinkers like Terry Fisher, Larry Lessig, Google’s Fred von Lohmann, and many more taking to the stage, it was a pretty great day to be thinking about copyright law in the digital age.

There were many themes that were repeated by people of all different perspectives, but it became clear to me that the one change in the law that will solve the most problems in the simplest way is reform of statutory damages. As I mentioned in my preview post, I have a strong personal interest in this particular issue, but even I was surprised at how the specter of statutory damages lurked menacingly in the background of almost every discussion. The remedy has to be changed, and it is the one change that is simple enough that it seems genuinely within reach. The best way to see why is for to me to briefly explain the current statutory damages regime, quickly articulate the three most pressing Big Problems that I saw, and then show why statutory damages reform would go a long way to solving many of them.

Student Perspectives: Jason Harrow at the Rethink Music Conference

Reposted from JUST ENRICHMENT

For the next two days, this Humble Contributor will be attending a conference called “Rethink Music.” It promises two days of fascinating dialogue about the future of the music industry among artists, entrepreneurs, record company executives, lawyers, policymakers, academics, and students. Harvard’s Berkman Center has posted a great briefing book and a nice series of podcasts leading up to the event, and I figured I’d add my two cents about what I’d like to see over the next few days. I’ll be writing entries after the day’s events both Tuesday and Wednesday with my reactions.

I have a dog in this fight. For the last two years, I have had the privilege of being on the team of students that represents Joel Tenenbaum, a Ph.D. student who was sued for copyright infringement for sharing songs on KaZaA, which is a now-defunct but once extremely popular filesharing network. The industry settled with the overwhelming majority of defendants it sued, but Joel refused and became one of only two people to go trial. He lost, but the damages set by the jury were reduced by the trial judge, and his case is now awaiting a decision in the First Circuit. So, legally, I am directly adverse to the interests of America’s largest record companies and their trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

But, from a long-term perspective, I’d like to think that I am not adverse to their interests at all. I love music. I want lots of people to make a lot of money in the music business — including the record labels. I want as many people as possible to have legal access, from everywhere, to the earth-shattering abundance of recorded music that exists online, and I want artists and engineers and record companies to be reasonably compensated. I really do.