Copyright Law

Denise Cloud responds to Government brief in SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Cloud

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Cloud, the Philadelphia case in which the parties have been briefing the constitutionality of the RIAA's damages theory, defendant has filed her response to the brief filed by the Department of Justice.

In it, among other things, she argued that:

-resolution of the constitutional issue should not await a trial;
-there is no special "public policy" to deter copyright infringement of the record companies' song files since these companies are foreign-owned;
-the damages sought would not pass constitutional muster under the Williams test;
-the Court should follow all the other cases that have spoken to the issue, rather than the wrongly decided Zomba case; and
-in addition to the 5th amendment, the 8th amendment also applies, especially since the RIAA's own lawyers are now in control of the Justice Department which submitted the brief in question.

Defendant's response to Government brief

Keywords: lawyer digital copyright law online internet law legal download upload peer to peer p2p file sharing filesharing music movies indie independent label freeculture creative commons pop/rock artists riaa independent mp3 cd favorite songs intellectual property portable music player

Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on May 14, 2009 (boomark / email).