1st Circuit Reinstates $675,000 File-Sharing Award Against Tenenbaum — Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum
20 09 2011[Post by Venkat Balasubramani]
Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, 2011 WL 4133920 (1st Cir. Sept. 16, 2011) [pdf]
Sony’s lawsuit against Joel Tenenbaum was one of two file-sharing lawsuits brought by record labels against end users that proceeded to trial. (The RIAA’s lawsuit against Jammie Thomas resulted in three trials, a $1.5mm verdict which was reduced to $54,000 and is currently on appeal.)
In a nutshell, in this case, the jury returned a verdict of $675,000. The trial judge found the award excessive under Due Process standards and reduced it to $67,500. The First Circuit finds that the trial judge erred in not reducing the award based on common law remittitur and giving Sony the choice between accepting the reduced verdict or opting for a new trial. The original verdict is reinstated and the case is sent back to Judge Gertner to rule on plaintiff’s motion for remittitur.
Other coverage:
Techdirt: “Appeals Court Reinstates $675,000 Jury Award Against Joel Tenenbaum On Procedural Grounds”
EFF: “Appellate Court Sends Tenenbaum Case Back For Another Round”
Previous posts:
Copyright Statutory Damages Award Violates Constitutional Due Process–Sony v. Tenenbaum
The content in this post was found at http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2011/09/1st_circuit_rei.htm and was not authored by the moderators of freeforafee.com. Clicking the title link will take you to the source of the post.
