RIAA Strikes Back, Orders Student To Pay $675,000 For Sharing Music

Posted by Daniel Shain

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In just the second music sharing case to go to trial, BU grad student Joel Tenenbaum has been ordered to pay $675,000 in damages for willfully sharing - get this - 30 songs.

We're willing to wager that the majority of you out there have shared some kind of files before, and that most of you have also excused yourselves for it. Whether it's that one little song that is too insignificant to matter or that $800 piece of software that is so overpriced you wouldn't have bought it otherwise, you tell yourself it's ok, it's no big deal, it's just filesharing. Everybody does it.

Well, it's wrong. Not that, we, I mean, some friends of ours, haven't been guilty of filesharing before. But legally, it is a no-no. Like many others before him, Joel Tenenbaum was caught by the RIAA for sharing music, but unlike most of the others he chose to fight the charge in court. And by "fight," we mean "willfully confess."

Joel is on the filesharing-is-legitimate crusade. On his website, he has a Q&A session with one question as follows: "Q: Why did you share them? Why didn’t you just enjoy them yourself?! A: Art is meant to be shared."

But his case is not that the RIAA didn't have a right to sue him over infringement. The only legal action he wants is for a change in the "unconstitutional" excessive nature of the fines. He and a crack team of law students under Professor Charles Nesson are out to change the system.

Fines for a willful infringement can be up to $150,000 per song. We can understand that the record industry only catches a fraction of a percentage of offenders, but is that really an excuse for making one person pay such an exorbitant fee? Joel has said if he is ordered to pay the full amount he will simply go bankrupt.

Website - JoelFightsBack

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Comments

  • By: The Saint Aug 07, 2009 7:19 PM

    The 30 track are already available via torrent: http://itoodownloadedthem.blogspot.com

  • By: asdew Aug 07, 2009 1:14 AM

    Fantastic post. Bookmarked this site and emailed it to a few friends, your post was that great, keep it up. Juicy couture Shop provides hundreds of discount,cheap,fine and fashion juicy couture jewelry Juicy Jewelry Juicy couture juicy couture charms juicy jewelry
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