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CS chal­lenges con­sti­tu­tion­al­ity of Copy­right Act stat­utory dam­ages

July 6, 2009

Ca­mara & Sib­ley today filed a mo­tion chal­len­ging the $1.9 mil­lion ver­dict in Cap­it­ol Re­cords et al. v. Jam­mie Thomas, the first of the RI­AA pro­sec­u­tions over mu­sic down­load­ing to go to tri­al. That $1.9 mil­lion rep­res­ents $80,000 for each of 24 songs that were avail­able for $1.29 on iTunes or on $15 CD’s from a brick-and-mor­tar mu­sic store. Stat­utory dam­ages like this, that bear no re­la­tion to the ac­tu­al in­jury proved or suffered by the plaintiff, vi­ol­ate the Due Pro­cess Clause of the United States Con­sti­tu­tion.

K.A.D. Camara handled the briefing. Read the motion here. Listen to Joe Sibley on the CBS Early Show, Fox Business, and Fox & Friends.