RIAA should give it all back, says lawyer

Merely defending clients against copyright infringement lawsuits isn’t good enough, according to one lawyer battling the music industry.

Instead, K.A.D. Camara (pictured below) is calling for the Recording Industry Association of America to give back every penny that it’s collected from piracy lawsuits on the grounds that the trade group’s statutory damage claims are unconstitutional, p2pnet writes. He’s asked the court to enjoin the RIAA’s lawsuit campaign and require the association to return over $100 million to past defendants.

Camara’s request is part of his defense of college student Brittany English, whom he is representing pro bono. English is accused of sharing 10 songs but faces the threat of $150,000 in damages per track, totalling $1.5 million in potential costs.

Ars Technica speculates that this case is part of a broader attack on the RIAA that includes the efforts of Harvard University law professor Charles Nesson. Camara is a Harvard law graduate who was once a student of Nesson’s, and has also just taken on the case of Jammie Thomas, whose original lawyer recently withdrew. Meanwhile, Nesson is defending Joel Tenenbaum on the grounds that file-sharing is fair use.

Put together, rulings in favor of the defendants could critically damage the RIAA’s legal strategy, but the courts would have to take a pretty big legal leap. If that happens, you can rest assured that these arguments will go to the Supreme Court.