Copyright Law

Plaintiffs' proposed jury instructions in Capitol Records v. Thomas ask Judge to make same mistake which caused first verdict to be set aside

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

Commentary:

Incredibly, the proposed jury instructions submitted by plaintiffs in Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset ask the Judge to repeat the same mistake he made in the first trial, a mistake which required the Judge to set the verdict aside.

They are asking the Judge to dispense with the definition of a "distribution" that is set forth in 17 USC Sec. 106(3), and instead instruct the jury that the defendant violated plaintiffs' distribution rights if she had the files available on her computer and if MediaSentry downloaded copies of them... without regard to whether

-the plaintiffs prove there was a dissemination of copies;
-the plaintiffs prove that the dissemination was "to the public"; or
-the plaintiffs prove "sale or other transfer of ownership, or ... rental, lease, or lending".

Plaintiffs' Proposed Jury Instructions

It absolutely boggles the mind.

-R.B.

Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on June 03, 2009 (boomark / email).