Oklahoma Blog: Criminal Law Situations

I think it's safe to say that pretty much everybody I know has, at some point or another, illegally downloaded music from the Internet. In fact, according to a 2009 report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), 95 percent of all music downloads are illegal. Artists, record labels, and retailers are suffering from this loss in profits, to the tune of about $5 billion each year, and the situation is only getting worse. After the demise of Napster, programs like Kazaa, Limewire, and BitTorrent became hot-spots for finding and downloading copyrighted items. The Record Industry Association of America (RIAA) has had enough, and is cracking down.

Take for instance, Joel Tenenbaum, a 25-year-old graduate student at Boston University. On July 31, Tenenbaum was ordered by a Boston federal jury to pay four different record labels a total of $675,000 in damages for downloading and sharing 30 songs. That's a total of $22,500 per song, as compared to the average price of 99 cents per song on iTunes. Tenenbaum willingly and unapologetically admitted to downloading hundreds of songs since 1999. He told reporters after the trial that although he was disappointed, he was not at all surprised. It could have been much worse for him, even though he will still be forced to declare bankruptcy.

However, many people believe that a verdict like this is completely unfair. Tenenbaum's attorney, Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson, has stated that he will appeal. Nesson believes that Tenenbaum, and others his age, don't give a second thought to downloading music (or movies, TV shows, games, etc.) illegally off the Internet. "This is a federal case, and what's it about?" asked Nesson. "It's about a kid in his bedroom clicking on a computer screen." Most suits like this are settled out of court for much less money. Only one other downloading lawsuit has actually gone to trial. In June of this year, a woman from Minnesota was ordered to pay $1.92 million for the illegal use of 24 songs.

The RIAA has stopped filing lawsuits (after nearly 18,000 individuals had been targeted) because they believe there have been dramatic changes in the industry. It is stated on their website that the litigation program was intended to educate music fans about the consequences of breaking the law, as well as raise awareness about the different services worldwide where one can legally obtain music. They work closely with college campuses to detect infringement, and the colleges have cooperated by sending out copyright notices to their students. Although the RIAA acknowledges that there will always be some degree of piracy on the Internet, it is hopeful that most individuals will take advantage of the legal alternatives, which are becoming more numerous each day.

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Comments (5)

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written by kmom1994, September 11, 2009

Wow. I know you're smart "Legal Intern," so don't take this the wrong way, but this is really good. You write as well as many reporters I've worked with, and the topic is interesting, which is certainly not the case for all blogs. Can't wait to read the next one. How about tackling something related to health care or physician-related lawsuits?

Well done.

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written by Leonard, September 15, 2009

How sad that such a small mistake can ruin a young person's life.

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written by mthompsonmn, September 23, 2009

This makes me wonder how the RIAA determined which cases to pursue. Surely there are users who have shared much more than 30 songs. Nice article outlining the risks of file sharing!

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written by Brandon, September 25, 2009

sucks for that dude

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