Harvard Law Professor to the RIAA: Pay Back the $100 Million

[modeps]

Its a pretty well known fact that the RIAA has, for a few years now, engaged in some seriously questionable legal tactics involving people sharing music files over the Internet. Now though, one particular Harvard Law Professor has been taking them to task and, with his involvement, is attempting to get them to pay back the roughly $100 million that they have collected as part of their "settlements". Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/05/harvard-law-prof-helping-in-not-1-but-3-file-sharing-cases.ars):

For years he watched with horror as the RIAA demanded money from tens of thousands of Americans, finally getting into the ring himself when federal judge Nancy Gertner connected him to Joel Tenenbaum, a young man in need of an attorney for his file-sharing suit.

The move made waves that continue to ripple—the resources and legal minds of Harvard Law would wade into the controversy and provide a much needed counterweight to the crushing RIAA litigation machine! But critics noted that this was only a single case, and it only came after years of recording industry lawsuits. Didn't Harvard's privileged profs need to do more?

It turns out that Nesson is doing more. Though his main involvement is with the Tenebaum case—where he plans to argue that file-sharing is simply fair use—Nesson is also involved in two similar cases. In one of them, the lawyers are asking that the RIAA be forced to return all the money it has ever collected from the settlement campaign.

They should pay it back, and then some.

[BabyJesus]

Good, what they were doing amounts to extortion anyway.

Bring these ridiculous lawsuits over people with little means to defend themselves against the legal muscle of the RIAA forcing them to have to settle, its sad that the judges of this country let it happen. The RIAA aren't the only ones. So many lawsuits are won or settled or pled out now a days simply because whoever has the biggest legal team almost wins by bringing, shall we say, their unique interpretation of the laws.

[brandonjclark]

Way to stoke the fires, modeps. I've been looking at this going on for some time now and I'm glad the attention is being brought to Evil Avatar. I mean, everyone know what we say hear will end up as scripture, right? ;)

Okay, here goes.....

1) I want to think that the asses should pay everyone back, I do. But...

2) Until the law is changed {his other case might help do that} then I don't see how they could be forced to pay anyone back.

Something needs to happen. The way we do things now is wrong. Yes, the law is there and you should follow the law, but it isn't right.

We need to change it because as another EA patron said somewhere on another thread, and I'm paraphrasing here "Music is supposed to be free naturally". I know that sounds hippy, and if you knew me you wouldn't think I was that way, but that's like charging people to look at paintings or to receive warmth from the sun. Music creativity should work on donations.

[Az Syndicate]

Lower your flags, and march straight back to England Hollywood, stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today.
RIAA: [laughing] You are outmatched. You have no heavy cavalry teams upon teams of lawyers.....
William: I'm not finished. Before we let you leave, your commander head lawyer must cross that field court, present himself before this army defendant, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse.

[brandonjclark]

Lower your flags, and march straight back to England Hollywood, stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today.
RIAA: [laughing] You are outmatched. You have no heavy cavalry teams upon teams of lawyers.....
William: I'm not finished. Before we let you leave, your commander head lawyer must cross that field court, present himself before this army defendant, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse.

I'd say that's less cordial than he's used to!

[greenapple]

We need to change it because as another EA patron said somewhere on another thread, and I'm paraphrasing here "Music is supposed to be free naturally". I know that sounds hippy, and if you knew me you wouldn't think I was that way, but that's like charging people to look at paintings or to receive warmth from the sun. Music creativity should work on donations.

Good luck with that one.

There's reasons that the RIAA was wrong here, but they have to do with the use of strong-arm tactics and unequal legal representation. It's not because of the fundamental impropriety of intellectual property.

FYI- we often charge people for looking at paintings. As to the sun, last I checked, no one claims to have created it.

[Mephistopheles]

Professor Nesson may be going up against a lot more than just the RIAA on this issue - it seems like it has less to do with file sharing and more to do with a clash of ideologies: the legal system versus the justice system.

There are members of the US Government - past, at least, I'm not sure about present - who seem to play a game of musical chairs between the government sector and the private sector. Corporations spend a lot of money on lobbying and all but writing laws for Congress to pass, they do this so that they can act as they wish and also be acting legally. It has nothing to do with whether the laws are just, just that they are laws.

I guess the file sharing case is one that is easily visible to the public because the corporations are wielding their influence against citizens. It will be interesting to see how far it goes - my guess is not far - because the issue at hand is certainly a lot bigger than the RIAA or a kid downloading some ones and zeroes.

[Fubl]

yeah the politicol shift in the US is crazy right now we need to really get the checks and balances back into postion. clinton era it seemed that there was a decent balance between the 3 parts of our government, i mean even the president was brought down on charges. Bush era there seemed to be a weak judicial, weak congress, and very strong Executive branch. in the current administration we have a congress basically running wild with a weaker executive branch and still a weak judicial branch, Makes that new appointment by barrack even more important to the supreme court....

[Johan]

Too bad Obama supports the RIAA in seeking fines of up to $150,000 per song. (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/obama-stop-fill/)

...the Justice Department, fresh with two RIAA attorneys in its No. 2 and No. 3 positions, announced the administration’s support of $150,000 in damages for each music track purloined on a peer-to-peer file sharing program. The administration, moreover, has just declared as classified the inner workings of worldwide intellectual property trade pact. And Hollywood is urging Obama to embrace internet filtering as the content industry seeks to cut internet access to repeat copyright violators.

Damned progressive of him.

[Reverend Meta]

Hail bureaucracy?!

[TeeCakes]

Last I checked, Obama got handed a shitty economic depression to dig his way out of from Day One of his Presidency, so of course he's going to do everything he can to fellate the business sector into becoming as profitable as they were during better times.

Because America's long past the days where tobacco was our cash crop. Today our media is the U.S.'s hottest commodity, so having 1:5 Americans (totally grabbed that stat from my ass before anyone calls foul) steal IPs via the internet may arguably be one of the major causes of the the recession.

That and the writer's strike.

[Johan]

...so having 1:5 Americans (totally grabbed that stat from my ass before anyone calls foul) steal IPs via the internet may arguably be one of the major causes of the the recession.

That and the writer's strike.

Piracy caused our current recession? There's not enough facepalm in the universe for that idea.

TeeCakes, stick to Sony. Your economic analysis leaves much to be desired, to say the least. I am, however, quite certain that Congress would like to hear about this, since they've been focusing their efforts in so many other areas, including banking, real estate, oversight, and on...

Obama has no excuses for this. He supports the RIAA, which is running an extortion racket against Americans and getting away with it.

[TeeCakes]

:facepalm:

(see what I did there?)

Johan you need to take your unscheduled random attacks on Obama and stuff them in a sack. We get it, you don't like the way his first 100 days have gone down, now please go away.

Nothing you say will change the fact that he has to make the best of the worst situation that was instigated by the worst U.S. President in the history of our nation. But I refuse to play the politics/economics theorizing game with you when neither one of us has the qualifications to make anything but opinionated guesses.

I'll continue having my own opinion on the matter, so feel free to do the same. Just leave the self-righteous pontifications against me out.

[Johan]

Johan you need to take your unscheduled random attacks on Obama and stuff them in a sack.

Pointing out Obama's support of RIAA fines up to $150,000 per song, in a thread on the RIAA's extortion/racketeering, is a "random attack" somehow?

You're a trip. I'll take your ludicrous post as the only defense you can muster for Obama's ridiculous support of the RIAA, as well as your insanely stupid supposition that the current economic crisis has something...anything...at all to do with piracy.

You must be high to think that. Surely you can't be that stupid, right?

:confused:

Perhaps...perhaps not. I'd say it's 50-50. :D

[bjornbarspingvinen]

where he plans to argue that file-sharing is simply fair use----
Tell that to all people who get let off because of declining sales or games that go bust.

There´s nothing more insulting than people approaching you, telling you how great your game is, but when you ask them if they bought it , they mumble and look down in the ground. Thanks for nothing.

[bjornbarspingvinen]

I don´t mind people trying out games thru file sharing, it´s just too many completing games and don´t even care to buy it, there really is no more sense of moral or thought that the people who make the games have mouths to feed and spend more than normal working hours to deliver these games.

If people had more resonable morals of buying material , I wouldn´t have a problem with file sharing. It just seems impossible ...

[TeeCakes]

...I'll take your ludicrous post as the only defense you can muster for Obama's ridiculous support of the RIAA, as well as your insanely stupid supposition that the current economic crisis has something...anything...at all to do with piracy.

You must be high to think that. Surely you can't be that stupid, right?

...Tell that to all people who get let off because of declining sales or games that go bust.

Johan the dogmatic jackass, proving once again that even though his opinion is actually the minority, he'll talk as if it's the god's honest truth!

Take you vitriol to the P&R forums if all you want to do is call other posters "stupid", jackass.

[Trazzlo the Magnificant]

P2P file sharing should be extended so that people can also see where they can obtain the music legitimately, like the local public libraries, the local radio stations, and the local used games/videos/CDs shops.

Then P2P sharing is nothing about cheap knockoffs of used stuff; hardly worth $1 each (the new price) let alone $150,000.