When I searched the Web, I found the 2010 media law case:
Harper v. Maverick Recording Company et al.
Harper v. Maverick Recording Company et al. is a United States Court of Appeals copyright law case decided on February 25, 2010. It held that the Copyright Act’s “innocent infringement” defense doesn’t apply to downloads of digital music files.
Whitney Harper downloaded 37 copyrighted songs through file-sharing sites like Kazaa when she was 16 (she was 22 at the time the case was decided in the Supreme Court). The lower courts ruled in favor of the five music companies that sued her: Maverick Recording Co., UMG Recordings Inc., Artista Records LLC, Warner Bros. Records Inc. and Sony BMG Music Entertainment.
Harper consequently filed an appeal and the case reached the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. It ruled that Harper could not be considered an innocent infringer, due to copyright notices on CDs. Her appeal was denied and it was decided that she owes the music companies $27,750 ($750 for each of the songs she downloaded). The Supreme Court decided not to take up the case, in denying her petition for a writ of centiorari on November 29, 2010.
I do not agree with the outcome of this case. I think that having to pay $750 per copyrighted song downloaded as a minor is a very harsh punishment! Moreover, I agree with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito who wrote in his dissenting opinion: “(a) person who downloads a digital music file generally does not see any material object bearing a copyright notice, and accordingly, there is force to the argument that (the current law) does not apply.” I would like to have seen the 5th Circuit's opinion overturned by the Supreme Court.
Sources:
No comments:
Post a Comment