Posted on 08/01/2009 5:01:34 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
New York, NY (AHN) - A judge has ordered a graduate student to pay a total of $675,000 (404,000 pounds) after he was found guilty of illegally downloading songs from a shared music Web site.
Joel Tenenbaum, the 25-year-old Boston University student, has pleaded guilty of the charges of downloading and distributing 30 songs.
He will be paying $22,500 per song to four record labels for willfully infringing on the copyright of the songs by bands, including Green Day, Incubus, Nirvana and Aerosmith.
The U.S. District Court jury could have ordered him to pay a maximum of $4.5 million in the case.
"We are grateful for the jury's service and their recognition of the impact of illegal downloading on the music community," a statement from the Recording Industry Association of America said yesterday.
"We appreciate that Tenenbaum finally acknowledged that artists and music companies deserve to be paid for their work. From the beginning, that's what this case has been about. We only wish he had done so sooner rather than lie about his illegal behavior," it added.
The recording companies are entitled for fines of up to $750 to $30,000 per infringement under the U.S. copyright law.
It is the second such case to go to trial in the U.S.
In July, a woman in Minneapolis was ordered to pay $1.92 million. Jammie Thomas-Rasse was fined $80,000 per song for copyright infringement for sharing 24 songs.
Is that legal or does the copyright statement in the front of the book make it illegal? (I am sure nobody is going to be arrested but just curious).
Truly a case where the punishment does not fit the crime.
I knew nothing about computers 10 years ago. Then I started working a night shift and bought one to keep me busy on my nights off. Trail and error plus being pals with my companies IT team taught me all I know.
These record companies have cheated and personally destroyed the dreams and ambitions of so many artists in the past on residuals and profits through shady contracts and dishonest agreements. How can they justifiably go after a student? That’s just foul.
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