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$20,000 a Song Fine… I’d Love to See the List
Joel Tenenbaum must pay $675,000 in damages awarded to the major US music labels after his request for a retrial was turned down.
Mr Tenenbaum, 25, was found guilty of illegally downloading and distributing 31 songs in 2007.
A judge in Massachusetts ruled that the damages, set by a jury in 2009, had been fair.
Mr Tenenbaum was 16 years old when a letter was sent to his parents’ home accusing him of illegal file-sharing.
He was asked to pay $5,250 for downloading seven songs. He claims he offered $500 which was all he could afford at the time, and it was declined.
In 2007 the case went to court for the first time. On his website Joel Tenenbaum says that he counter-claimed “asserting abuse of federal power”.
He refused to settle and a new trial was set for 2009. The result of that trial was the awarding of damages to the major US record labels.
In court Mr Tenenbaum had admitted to file-sharing around 800 songs.
“I used the computer. I uploaded, I downloaded music,” he said.
In the past he has refused to take donations from supporters keen to help with the fine.
“This lawsuit was against me. This is my verdict,” he wrote on his blog.
Troy
August 25th, 2012
What is wrong with this judge?
Was it a wise latina?
Total BS going on with Lance Armstrong losing his titles because of some piss-ant authority.
FreeMan - Next Time Sarah - 2016
August 25th, 2012
Oh Tenenbaum, Oh Tennenbaum…
Roscoe P. Soultrane
August 25th, 2012
Next step, file bankruptcy, and the record companies get nothing, or near enough to nothing. But they’ll have their nice piece of paper saying that they won.
Tony R
August 25th, 2012
Got to side with Joel on this one.
Unneutral
August 25th, 2012
The predatory attacks by the music industry are designed to instill fear in the greater number of people that may be involved in the same mundane practices of innocently downloading a few songs by overly paid singers and writers. A fair price may be somewhere around two or three times the original value but of course it’s much more dramatic to go for the obscure and unreasonable amount that would tend to scare the most avid downloader of crappy music that is floating around the internet today.
Chances are the artists are overpaid in the first place and while that’s not my place to judge they should feel a certain appreciation that people are willing to commit a digital crime in order to enjoy their productions. One cannot help but wonder how much of a collected fine would actually be returned to the artist and the writer
eternal cracker p
August 25th, 2012
I believe you could shoot a whole block of people in Chicago and get off with less of a charge.
123321123321
August 25th, 2012
I am afraid Jean Val Jean, that you must be sent to prison for stealing that loaf of bread!
moarkdave
August 25th, 2012
Well, if he had killed a person or two by the time he was 16, he would probably already be out of prison by now.
I know the whole stealing thing is wrong. But it is the record companies that make the money on music sales. The artists only get a tiny part of the money. The writers get a tad more, but still nothing like the record companies. The artists now make almost all of their money from concerts and merchandise sales.
It is hard for me to have sympathy for the record companies. How many copies of great albums have we bought over time. An lp, an 8-track tape, a couple of cassette tapes, a CD and then itunes. You know the great albums and songs that we have repeatedly bought over and over when our old copies were worn out, lost or became out-dated. It is the record companies that reap the profits from all of this. Boo Hoo for them that they can not rape us anymore on sales.
jclady
August 25th, 2012
Joel’s parents must be thankful the suit was against him, not them.
Since Joel was 16 at the time, he would have been living at home with the internet bill going to his parents. In many cases, the owner of the account is on the receiving end of a lawsuit.
Happened to my daughter when she was in college. The bill was in her name, her roommate was downloading, my daughter go sued..
Nasty, nasty mess, but worked out in her favor.
Not so much for the roommate!
Friend of the family
August 25th, 2012
He needs to fake his death and start a new life.
RosalindJ
August 25th, 2012
Via a pirate bay link:
“Complete tracklist based on the official court documents:
01 – Incubus – New Skin
02 – Green Day – Minority
03 – Outkast – Wheelz of Steel
04 – Incubus – Pardon Me
05 – Nirvana – Come As You Are
06 – Green Day – When I Come Around
07 – Green Day – Nice Guys Finish Last
08 – Nirvana – Heart Shaped Box
09 – Nine Inch Nails – The Perfect Drug
10 – Blink 182 – Adam’s Song
11 – Limp Bizkit – Rearranged
12 – Limp Bizkit – Leech
13 – Linkin Park – Crawling Hybrid
14 – Deftones – Be Quiet And Drive
15 – The Fugees – Killing Me Softly
16 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
17 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – By The Way
18 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – My Friends
19 – Beck – Loser
20 – Eminem – My Name Is
21 – Eminem – Drug Ballad
22 – Eminem – Cleaning Out My Closet
23 – Beastie Boys – (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)
24 – The Ramones – The KKK Took My Baby Away
25 – Monster Magnet – Look To Your Orb For The Warning
26 – Aerosmith – Pink
27 – OutKast – Rosa Parks
28 – Rage Against The Machine – Guerrilla Radio
29 – Goo Goo Dolls – Iris
30 – Aerosmith – Water Song/Janie’s Got A Gun”
Friend of the family
August 25th, 2012
@RosalindJ
No Beatles or Stones, not even an ABBA. Terrible.
Corona
August 25th, 2012
Who would pay a cent for that shit? You know what? At this point, if the perp’s a lib, nail it on him. Otherwise it’s OMG April Fools!
RosalindJ
August 25th, 2012
It’s as if he’s being punitively fined for his taste in music. To each his own, and by my own lights, it’s a pretty awful list of noise.
everywhere i go
August 26th, 2012
Maybe the judge was trying to teach him a lesson about his poor taste in music?
everywhere i go
August 26th, 2012
RosalindJ
you beat me to it. I type slow.
BigFurHat
August 26th, 2012
1 – Incubus – New Skin
noisy crap
02 – Green Day – Minority
same old shit
03 – Outkast – Wheelz of Steel
ammoying
04 – Incubus – Pardon Me
s ‘ alright
05 – Nirvana – Come As You Are
good song
06 – Green Day – When I Come Around
s’ ok same old shit
07 – Green Day – Nice Guys Finish Last
crap
08 – Nirvana – Heart Shaped Box
good song
09 – Nine Inch Nails – The Perfect Drug
noise
10 – Blink 182 – Adam’s Song
annoying
11 – Limp Bizkit – Rearranged
they suck
12 – Limp Bizkit – Leech
they suck
13 – Linkin Park – Crawling Hybrid
s’ok
14 – Deftones – Be Quiet And Drive
s’ok
15 – The Fugees – Killing Me Softly
s’ ok
16 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
boring
17 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – By The Way
I like it
18 – Red Hot Chili Peppers – My Friends
sappy crap – ordinary
19 – Beck – Loser
really?
20 – Eminem – My Name Is
Really?
21 – Eminem – Drug Ballad
lolololol
22 – Eminem – Cleaning Out My Closet
lolooll
23 – Beastie Boys – (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)
obnoxious
24 – The Ramones – The KKK Took My Baby Away
10,000 dollars a chord
25 – Monster Magnet – Look To Your Orb For The Warning
s’ok
26 – Aerosmith – Pink
horrid
27 – OutKast – Rosa Parks
annoying crap
28 – Rage Against The Machine – Guerrilla Radio
despicable a-holes
29 – Goo Goo Dolls – Iris
good song
30 – Aerosmith – Water Song/Janie’s Got A Gun”
s’ ok
All in all- a dink list
conservativeBC
August 26th, 2012
Maybe if we can the Illeagle Mexicans to take up file sharing…
Stranded in Sonoma
August 26th, 2012
The question here is did the person sharing the file buy the songs or was he charged a usage fee?
Buying and selling have very specific meanings in commerce. If you sell goods to me and I buy them, the money I give you is yours and the goods you sell me are mine. I have no say as to how you spend what is now your money. Likewise, you have no say as to what I can do with my goods. When I buy a TV from Sony, can they tell me how to use it and where in my house to put it? No. If I buy a Kenmore fridge can Sears tell me how to use it? No. It’s because when a sale happens, the seller gives up all claim to the goods and the buyer gives up all claim to the money.
So, if I buy a song in any format, it is mine to do with as I please. Intellectual property notwithstanding. Because I bought it.
On the other hand, if the music company does have a say over the song in my possession, then it must not belong to me. It must still belong to the music company. If that is true, then I never bought the song, I just paid a one time usage fee. Which means my record collection doesn’t really belong to me. (I would like the music companies to tell that to their customers.)
So, if I bought the song, it is mine free and clear and I can do with it as I choose. If I did not buy the song but merely paid a usage fee for it, the music companies are guilty of false advertising for as long as those laws have been on the books. They told us we were buying the songs they were selling. They weren’t selling and we weren’t buying. We were expecting to own the songs but we don’t. That’s false advertising.
Maybe the federal and state gov’ts should treat the music companies the same way they treated the cigarette companies. Zap them for billions, but in this case it’s for all of the back fines, penalties, and interest from the crime of false advertising.
Of course, there is one bad thing about this truth. No more music. If they’re guilty of false advertising they’ll go bankrupt. If it is a sale, the artists won’t bother to make music because they get no money if you can just share the music. That’s very simplified, but you get the drift.
However, with all that said, I side with the music companies. “Sharing your piece of the pie” is what the Obama’s are all about. This is a capitalist system. If the song writer creates a new song, records it, and the music company distributes it, then they did build it themselves. It belongs to them. I don’t like their heavy-handed dealings with their own customers, but it is the property of the artists and by extension, the music companies.
Sharing is socialism. Property ownership is freedom.
everywhere i go
August 26th, 2012
Stranded in Sonoma
I think you would have to buy the copyrights in order to actually own it. The music industry is based on royalty payments.
Racist
August 26th, 2012
In court Mr Tenenbaum had admitted to file-sharing around 800 songs.
“I used the computer. I uploaded, I downloaded music,” he said.
In the past he has refused to take donations from supporters keen to help with the fine.
“This lawsuit was against me. This is my verdict,” he wrote on his blog.
It looks like the “severity” of his sentence has already begun to serve its purpose! Sounds like he’s beginning to comprehend “personal Responsibility” and propertry rights, If he’s not accepting donations to help pay for his fine, then perhaps he’s being convicted… not by the “Judge”, but by The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit sometimes acts as that “still small Voice” that whispers in our ear and tells us that we are
Billy Fuster
August 26th, 2012
Those hypocritical successful artists need to share their revenue with unsuccessful artists.
Nutjob
August 26th, 2012
in this case
the record industry didn’t build it (their empire)….the courts did.
Dathi
August 26th, 2012
It’s theft in T’baums case. I have no sympathy for him.
mkultra
August 26th, 2012
Poor bastid didn’t even get a copy of Dominic the Italian Christmas Donkey.
RANDO
August 26th, 2012
Why do you think they call it “pirating”?
FreeMan - Chick-fil-A today
August 26th, 2012
What! Is that illegal?
I got to go
Absolute muddjuice
August 26th, 2012
You don’t own the song, you own the copy of the song. The artist owns the song, or in this case the record company owns it because of the money they put forth to distribute it in many forms.
Saying I own a song from a record is like saying I own the Mona Lisa when I buy a print of it and expecting to be able to get any other print for free whenever I want.
I don’t own the song. I own a copy of the song…..
Tim
August 26th, 2012
Punishment should fit the crime.
$675,000 for that list of dreck is cruel and unusual.
$6.00 … maybe …
Stranded in Sonoma
August 26th, 2012
@everywhere i go — I understand. But that doesn’t absolve the music industry from their lies told to us that we are “buying” the music. No we’re not. And they’re not “selling” it. Listen to all of their advertising. They use the terms buy and sell, or some form of them. But that is a lie. Because when I buy something, I own it. In the case of music, the music industry still retains rights to the music. So therefore, it is not my property and I don’t own it.
If they want to tell the truth and say something such as, “You can add these ten albums to your collection if you agree to pay the usage fee of 1 penny for all ten. You must then pay the full usage fee on at least 15 more albums within a year. Remember, you are not buying the music and we’re not selling it. We and the artists still retain rights to the music. We are just allowing you to use the music in accordance with current US copyright laws and our rules and regualtions.”
I’d have no problem with that. It would be truth. But the music industry doesn’t want to say that because they want to mislead the public into thinking they own the music when they do not. In this case, the music industry should hammered for false advertising.
old school new body
September 8th, 2012
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