Judge Reduces Fine In File-Sharer Case, Could Have Wide-Ranging Repercussions For Copyright Cases

In a ruling that could put a crimp in content owners' attempts to convince downloaders to settle lawsuits, a federal judge in Boston has said it's unconstitutional to require a defendant who shared 30 tracks to pay damages of $675,000.

Calling such an award "wholly out of proportion with the government's legitimate interests in compensating the plaintiffs and deterring unlawful file-sharing," U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner reduced the damages to $67,500. In August, a jury found Tenenbaum liable for sharing 30 tracks when he was an undergraduate and ordered him to pay $22,000 per track. Although the statute provides for damages ranging from $750 to $150,000 per infringement, Gertner ruled that the jury's award was "grossly excessive," given that Tenenbaum was a non-commercial user. She instead slashed damages to three times the minimum, or $2,250 a track. "Even as reduced," she wrote, the award "is unquestionably severe and is more than adequate to satisfy the statutory purposes and the plaintiffs' interests."

The RIAA said it disagreed with Gertner's analysis and will contest the ruling.