Security

Obama Administration Mulls Constitutionality of Copyright Act

In a few weeks, we’ll likely know the Obama administration’s position on whether it supports hefty monetary awards in file sharing litigation brought by the Recording Industry Association of America. The Bush administration’s position was clear. It supported the Copyright Act‘s penalties of up to $150,000 per infringed song. "Congress acted reasonably in crafting the […]

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In a few weeks, we'll likely know the Obama administration's position on whether it supports hefty monetary awards in file sharing litigation brought by the Recording Industry Association of America.

The Bush administration's position was clear. It supported the Copyright Act's penalties of up to $150,000 per infringed song.

"Congress acted reasonably in crafting the current incarnation by ensuring that it serves both a compensatory and deterrent purpose. Congress established a damages range that provides compensation for copyright owners in a regime in which actual damages are hard to quantify," the Bush administration wrote in 2007.

Now it's President Barack Obama's turn, and we'll see how tight he is with Hollywood.

On Tuesday, the Obama administration told (.pdf) a Pennsylvania federal judge weighing a constitutional challenge to the 1976 Copyright Act that it likely would divulge whether it believes damages under the act are unconstitutionally excessive by March 25 .

The Copyright Act is the law under which the RIAA has sued about 30,000 individuals for file sharing. Damages range from $750 a track to $150,000. At issue is whether the fines go against U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

The minimum penalty under the Copyright Act equals a ratio of about 750 times the actual injury, assuming the value of a single music track costs $1 to purchase. Rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts say financial punishments exceeding a 9-to-1 ratio are unconstitutional.

In 2007, a Minnesota jury ordered Jammie Thomas of Minnesota to pay the RIAA $222,000 for unlawfully sharing 24 tracks on the Kazaa file sharing network, in the only case of its kind to go to trial. A retrial is set for next month after the judge declared a mistrial because of faulty jury instructions.

Image: Modernhumorist.com

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