Updates on your most FAQs

Posted by Debbie Rosenbaum

What’s the status on the Joel Fights Back case? Right now, we are awaiting a date for the status hearing in Judge Gertner’s courtroom.  Plaintiffs and our team have agreed to a June 12 option, but we’re waiting to see if there is room on the court’s calendar.

Will it be webcast? As per the First Circuit’s ruling, the hearing, as scheduled will not be webcast.  However, as promised, we’re not done fighting the issue, so future webcast opportunities may depend on the reception of our continued efforts.  Our fingers are crossed.  We hope you’ll keep yours crossed too and consider signing the petition in favor of making the court open to this possibility.

What’s gonna happen over the summer? We’re working on a schedule with the plaintiffs that will give the case a relatively light summer in terms of work.  Other than the long-awaiting hearing and continued discovery in the case, things will get rolling again in the Fall. Given that our team is basically comprised of professors and students who will be traveling for internships and jobs all across the country (NY, DC, CA, FL, etc), this is a blessing for us to regroup.

When is the trial? There is still no trial date because we are waiting to see if our counterclaim will be accepted by the court. That will be decided at the hearing that is continually postponed due to the webcast issue.  We are anticipating a Fall trial.

What’s going to happen with the students? When a group of us took on the case last Fall, we had no idea just how huge this case would become — and how long it would take.  Actually, most of the team is graduating, with the exception of a few of us. Undoubtedly, that means we’ll have a huge task of recruiting new students to work on the case with us and to catch them up to speed with the time line to date.

But… But… will it be the same with new students? Yes and no. Over the last year, we’ve developed a quirky chemistry that we’ve tried to make  available to the public in various media. Objectively, when you put a brilliant Harvard Law Professor in a room with 10 or so Harvard students, it’s nothing short of an opinionated, vocal, heated debate where lots of big words and ideas are thrown around. But I can also say that we’ve become very good friends. All of us have a vested, personal an interest in either music or internet or copyright. So in some respects, the internal dynamics of the Joel Fights Back team will change.

BUT the notion and momentum of “Joel Fights Back” is bigger than any of us as individuals.  It’s an idea.  It’s a promise.  It’s a notion of fighting back against the RIAA for their abuse of process.  Granted, Ray Beckerman reminds us that Joel is hardly the first person to fight back.  But making his story open and public helps us put a face to the countless people who have tried to stand their ground.

Let us know what other questions we can help answer.

…More to come.