The Scene

MusicDetour.com’s commentary on music, performances, and the DC metro area music scene

For years, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has been suing people for sharing files. One of the main problems is that the RIAA has never been remotely transparent about who they are suing. Now I’m no legal scholar, but it occurred to me two years ago that this seems to violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Unfortunately, the RIAA’s tactics for suing file-sharers have been so egregious that no one has had the financial power to fight their lawsuits. They sue for as much as thousands of dollars per song with total lawsuits in the frequently in the millions. If the plaintiff wants to fight the lawsuit, the RIAA’s lawyers make it clear that it is going to cost more to fight than they have in assets. Then, plaintiffs are usually given the option to settle for the amount of their total life savings. This is certainly a criminal action by the RIAA, but no one has had the courage to fight back until now. Enter Joel Tenenbaum.

The RIAA filed suit against Joel Tenebaum for seven songs that he downloaded while a minor living at his parent’s house. However, this lawsuit has pushed one Harvard Law Professor too far. Professor Charles Nesson has taken the case on using his law students from his Fall 2008 course “CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion” to help as his legal team. So far, Nesson and his team have irked the RIAA’s legal team by getting a judge to allow internet streaming of some of the court proceedings. It is clear that the RIAA’s lawyers are going to make every motion to the court that they can. Hopefully, Nesson will be able to fight back as long as it take with the benefit of his paying day job and his always available team of students.