Too much Hubbub over Supreme Court decision in Tenenbaum case

First thing to know about the case involving acknowledged music-pirate Joel Tenenbaum is that it will likely go on...and on.

Much is being made today about a decision today by the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear Tenenbaum's challenge to a jury ruling against him, one that left him with a $675,000 penalty hanging over his head.

In 2007, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the trade group of the top four record companies, filed a copyright infringement suit against Tenenbaum, a then college student from Boston who was accused of illegally downloading 31 songs from a file-sharing Web site. Tenenbaum argued that the jury award was unconstitutional and the federal judge who oversaw his trial agreed that the penalty amount was "excessive."

But an appellate court agreed with the RIAA, that the judge had no business changing the jury decision. That's when Tenenbaum's lawyers asked the high court to step in, hear the case and finally put an end to the 5-year-old legal process.

All that happens now is that-- unless there's a settlement -- Tenebaum is expected to carry on the fight and the case will continue to churn its way through the courts. How's this for irony? The case could still be heard by the Supreme Court once it trudges through the legal process.

Any decision is likely to have little impact on today's music listeners. The lawsuit against Tenenbaum is a remnant of the RIAA's litigation era, when the music comp... [Read more]



via CNET http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cnet/NnTv/~3/BlL5pAfou_g/