Boston University Graduate Going To Trial For File-Sharing AEROSMITH Songs
July 29, 2009, 15 years ago
Eric Tucker from The Associated Press is reporting:
A Boston University graduate student was "a kid who did what kids do" when he swapped songs through file-sharing networks like Kazaa, his lawyer said Tuesday as his copyright-infringement trial began.
In only the second music-downloading case against an individual to go to trial, the major recording labels accuse Joel Tenenbaum, 25, of Providence, R.I., of downloading and distributing songs from such bands as AEROSMITH and GREEN DAY. The case centers on 30 shared songs, though the recording companies say he distributed many more than that.
Last month, a federal jury ruled a Minnesota woman must pay $1.92 million for copyright infringement.
The industry has typically offering to settle cases for about $5,000, though it has said that it stopped filing such lawsuits last August and is instead working with Internet service providers to fight the worst offenders. Cases already filed, however, are proceeding to trial.
Charles Nesson, the Harvard Law School professor representing Tenenbaum, said his client — a graduate student in physics — started downloading music as a teenager, taking advantage of file-sharing networks that make it possible for computer users to share digital files with a network of strangers.
"He was a kid who did what kids do and loved technology and loved music," Nesson said in opening statements.
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