RIAA v. Tenenbaum is a court case wherein the Recording Industry Association of America accuses Joel Tenenbaum of illegally downloading and uploading files, thus violating U.S. copyright law. It is only the second such case (after Capitol v. Thomas) to come to trial, a large number previously having been settled out of court. After the judge entered a finding of liability, a jury assessed damages of $675,000, although Tenenbaum and his lawyers plan an appeal.

Background

Joel Tenenbaum (b. December 25, 1983) comes from Providence, Rhode Island, and attended Goucher College in Maryland, majoring in physics and mathematics. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies in physics at Boston University.

The court case

After first contacting him in 2005, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed suit against Joel Tenenbaum in August 2007, accusing him of copyright infringement for the downloading of thirty-one music files from the Internet. The case went to trial in the last week of July 2009.

Tenenbaum admitted on the stand that he had downloaded many songs to his computer, though his lawyers pointed out that he was a "kid" and also that the Internet had changed things and the music industry had been "slow to adapt". Tenenbaum claims that damages available under the law under which he was sued is unconstitutional.

On 31 July 2009, the jury awarded $675,000 to the music companies, taking a middle option between the minimum ($22,500 total) and the maximum ($4.5 million). Tenenbaum's lawyer Charles Nesson plans to appeal; if the verdict stands, Tenenbaum plans to file for bankruptcy.

31 songs