Archive for the ‘Joel Tenenbaum’ tag
Tenenbaum to Pay $675,000 in Fines
Boston University graduate student, Joel Tenenbaum, was ordered to pay $675,000 to four record labels. Tenenbaum admitted to downloading and sharing music online. The Providence, RI native admitted that he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The jury’s only objective was to determine the monetary damages to be rewarded to the record labels.
Under federal law, recording companies are entitled to $750-$30,000 for each infringement; however, fines can be up to $150,000 if a jury finds that the infringement was “willful.” The maximum fine in the Tenenbaum case was $4.5 million.
The jurors ordered the defendant to pay $22,500 for each incidence of a copyright infringement. Tenenbaum’s lawyer pleaded with the jury to award the minimum damages to “send a message” to the record industry. Tenenbaum explained how he was thankful and, “That to me sends a message of ‘We considered your side with some legitimacy…$4.5 million would have been, ‘We don’t buy it at all.’”
Charles Nesson, Tenenbaum’s lawyer and Harvard Law School Professor, did not agree with the jury’s verdict and plans on appealing the decision.