Boston
– Joel Tenenbaum, the Boston-area student who was found guilty of sharing 30 songs
online and ordered to pay the major record labels $675,000 in copyright
infringement damages, has petitioned the court for a new trial.
In the filing,
attorneys for Tenenbaum argue that the damage award of $22,500 per song is
unconstitutionally excessive, and ask for them either to be reduced to $750 per
song, or to grant the defendant a new trial.
Current copyright law allows for
damages of between $750 and $150,000 per instance of infringement; Wired.com
cited copyright experts who noted that no court has yet found those sums to be
unconstitutional.
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/tz3c6
(Recording Industry vs. The People)
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/riaa-verdict-is-unreasonable/
