EFF Defends $54,000 Award Against Music Sharer - couturesaut1950

When Jammie Thomas-Rasset illegally common 24 songs she downloaded from the Internet Sir Thomas More than five old age ago, little did she cognize that the act would plunge her on a roller coaster ride through with the courts. In trine trials and 2 appeals, she's been hit with damage awards of $222,000, $1.92 million, $54,000, $1.5 million, and $54,000 again.

That last accolade was too low, argues Capitol Records, which has appealed the causa and is seeking restoration of the $1.5 million award against the Native American mother of four from Brainerd, Minnesota, who works as a natural resources coordinator for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians.

The Electronic Frontier Instauratio (Love)–joined away the Internet Archive, the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of College and Research Libraries, the American Program library Association, and General knowledge–is arguing differently, and Friday IT filed a "friend of the Margaret Court" legal brief with a federal appeals court in M asking it to uphold the inferior court honour.

In its brief, the Screw asserts that excessive damage awards in copyrights cases can discourage what copyrights were created to encourage: innovation.

"Copyright law should encourage institution, creativity and the dissemination of information," Be intimate Intellectual Property Film director Corynne McSherry says in a statement. "But fear of crushing liability if you guess wrong about whether a judicature will decide you are protected by fair use can chill experiment and the conception of early consumer products and services."

"We father't know what will be the next YouTube, Spotify, operating room Pandora–and we'll never know if creators of technology are scared away from developing new ideas," she adds.

The Screw is also request the appellate court to reject the record company's contention that fashioning copyrighted material available–on a equal-to-peer network, for exercise–is the unvarying every bit distributing it. That's important because the penalties for distributing a copyrighted work are more nonindulgent than just infringing information technology.

The right of first publication law requires that a transplant take place, such as a download, ahead someone bottom be considered distributing anything. "Distribution liability supported anything less would metamorphose [the Copyright Act] into an boundless form of civil attempt indebtedness, yet where no copies had ever been distributed and olibanum no harm had ever been inflicted on the copyright owner," the EFF legal brief says.

"Getting this issue rightish is also crucial in light of the extraordinary penalties uncommitted in copyright cases," the EFF adds. "A finding of infringement john open a gateway to statutory damages far out of proportion to any actual harm–as in this case, where the third jury found the defendant liable for over $1,500,000 when the fairish actual damages were no longer than $360."

While the music diligence brass the Transcription Industry Association of America has scaley back its legal activity against individual file-sharers, Capitol is an exception to the rule. Not solely is it pursuing the case against Thomas-Rasset, but IT's also trying to shut down the euphony reseller site ReDigi. Earlier this calendar week, an sweat by Capitol to suspend procedure of the internet site was rebuffed aside a federal district court overestimate.

The Screw and its allies hope the approximate in the Thomas-Rasset case bequeath borrow a similar course.

Follow freelance technology writer John P. Mello Junior. and Today@PCWorld on Chitter.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/474393/eff_defends_54_000_award_against_music_sharer.html

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