RIAA protests streaming hearing

Days after U.S. District  Court Judge Nancy Gerner announced the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)’s case against Joel Tenenbaum can be streamed online, RIAA officials have appealed the decision.

The RIAA believes streaming the hearing online could prejudice the potential jury pool, though Judge Gerner called the argument "specious" before ruling in favor of Tenenbaum.  He is being represented by outspoken Harvard law professor Charles Nesson along with several current Harvard law students.

The stream would be hosted by Harvard’s Berkman Center next week, but the RIAA headed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals to try and get a stay of ruling over the matter.  The Berkman Center is a resource on the Harvard campus that is currently co-directed by Tenenbaum’s lead counsel, and has been "specifically designed to promote Defendant’s interests in this case."

Tenenbaum is accused of downloading a handful of copyrighted songs more than five years ago, with the RIAA now suing for almost $1 million in damages.  The defendant originally offered to pay $500 of an overall $3,500 settlement demand from the RIAA, but the music trade group immediately rejected the offer.

The RIAA hasn’t had to take many alleged file sharers to court, as most people have instead paid pre-determined settlement fees to avoid court.  Only one other case — against Jammie Thomas — has gone to trial, with the defendant receiving a heavy judgment before the case was declared a mistrial. 

This could be one of the last RIAA lawsuits to head to trial — the RIAA will shift away from individual file sharers and instead focus on putting pressure on ISPs.