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Joel Tenenbaum has been ordered to pay $675,000 to record companies for illegally downloading and sharing 30 songs in 2004. (Photo via zmogo.com)
Joel Tenenbaum, a 25-year-old Boston University graduate student, has been ordered to pay four record companies $675,000 for illegally downloading and sharing music on the Internet.
After losing his battle with the RIAA, Tenenbaum will have to pay $22,500 for each of the 30 songs he shared via Kazaa back in 2004.
“I’m disappointed, but I’m thankful it wasn’t millions,” says Tenenbaum. The fine could have been as much as $4.5 million ($150,000 per song). But after a week-long trial, the jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 per song based on “willful infringement.”
Tenenbaum also admitted to downloading more than 800 songs between 1999 to 2007 on his home computer.
Yikes.
RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy says the $675,000 in damages won’t go to any of the artists, but will be “re-invested into our ongoing education and anti-piracy programs,” according to TorrentFreak.
In June, 32-year-old Jammie Thomas-Rasset was order to pay $1.92 million for downloading and sharing 24 songs ($80,000 per song) on Kazaa. At the time, Thomas-Rasset said: “There’s no way they’re ever going to get that. … I’m a mom, limited means, so I’m not going to worry about it now.”
Quote:
RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy says the $675,000 in damages won’t go to any of the artists, but will be “re-invested into our ongoing education and anti-piracy programs.”
Means:
The lawyers will get the money, not the artists.
How does this help the artists?
It’s uplifting to see all the moral concern for the record companies here, but I’m also concerned about the disproportionate severity of the punishment. If this grad student had stolen 30 songs on CD (3 CDs, retail value $45), he would have gotten a misdemeanor fine and a suspended 30-day sentence. And he would have learned a lesson, etc. etc.
What’s the moral lesson in this case? That it’s wrong to steal from musicians, because their art is a product like a hammer or a computer? The musicians are getting nothing. That it doesn’t pay to f**k with the record industry, because they have the political power to impoverish you for the rest of your life? That sounds more like it.
This is not a victory for anyone except the desperate and grasping villains of the RIAA. They care nothing about music. May they rot in hell.
Just an FYI, Napster is now a legal, subscription based operation. It is actually a great way to get music without running up a huge bill. You can stream the music using their online player with your subscription. The only time you have to pay for music is when it is transferred to disk, or an MP3 player.
I also wanted to say that I’m glad we still have some parents that are actively involved with what their children are doing online.
Chris
You had to see this coming. I have prevented my 15 yr old son from using frost, limewire, napster, & Kazaa on the computer. It took him some time to understand that this was stealing. Just becuase everyone got away with it for so long doesn’t mean it’s wrong & illegal. I’m glad the industry is making some examples of people to let them know the seriousness of the situation.
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Since when has this ever been about the artists? It is definitely for the record labels. Also saying the retail value of the CD is x amount of dollars is not what this is about. It is about the fact that he was SHARING the songs for download. This is where the large sum of money comes from. I am not saying the amount is justified by any means, but it is not just for the fact that he downloaded a few songs rather lost the company money by sharing his content.