Copyright Law

Judge is considering removing the Fair Use defense from the province of the jury in SONY v. Tenenbaum

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the Court has sua sponte (a) issued an order questioning whether the Fair Use defense is triable to the jury, even though the courts have historically treated Fair Use as a jury question, (b) directed the parties to brief the issue, and (c) gave them only six (6) days in which to do so.

Order directing parties to brief issue of whether Fair Use is triable by jury

[Ed. note. I find this decision surprising, since (a) as Judge Gertner herself notes, the courts have traditionally considered Fair Use a jury question, and (b) in an action at law which is triable to a jury, "equitable defenses" are also triable to the jury notwithstanding their equitable nature. -R.B.]

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