Copyright Law

Court defers ruling on excessiveness of RIAA's statutory damages theory in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Court, under the doctrine of "constitutional avoidance", deferred ruling on the excessiveness of the statutory damages being sought by the plaintiffs until when and if plaintiffs obtain such a verdict.

The Court rejected defendant's alternative arguments that the Copyright Act was an unlawful delegation of criminal power to a private entity, or that statutory damages should not be applied to noncommercial infringements.

Unrelated to the above, defendant also filed his responses to the RIAA's motions to (a)exclude expert witnesses and (b) compel further discovery responses.

Jun 15, 2009, decision denying motion to dismiss for unconstitutionality
Defendant's response to plaintiffs' motion to exclude expert witnesses & postpone summary judgment motion filing date
Declaration responding to plaintiffs' motion to compel further discovery responses

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Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on June 15, 2009 (boomark / email).