Top Copyright Scholar Questions Constitutionality of Copyright Act’s Statutory Damages Provision

Posted by Matt Sanchez.

Pamela Samuelson, a professor of law at University of California, Berkeley and one of the most respected copyright scholars in the country, recently released a working paper that calls for reforms in the Copyright Act’s statutory damages scheme.

Samuelson’s reasoning fits well with the arguments we’ve raised in this case. She and co-author Tara Wheatland argue that the enormous damages awards allowed by the statutory damages scheme are contrary to Congressional intent when viewed in many individual cases — one such case being suits against noncommercial file-sharers, of which Samuelson uses the Capitol v. Thomas case as an example.

Samuelson and Wheatland discuss many other failings of the statutory damages scheme, most notably its disconnect with due process under the 14th Amendment. On this count the authors find the scheme lacking under the BMW v. Gore standard for punitive damages, which we have relied upon in challenging the statute.

We hope that this paper will spark debate on the problems with the Copyright Act’s statutory damages scheme, which have gone unaddressed for far too long.  You can download a copy of the paper here.