March 23, 2009

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

The Department of Justice has filed a brief in support of the RIAA in an ongoing P2P file-sharing lawsuit. In the case Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, the DOJ is defending the Copyright Act's statutory damages provisions. Lawyers for the defense have argued that the damages formula - which range from $750 to $1500,000 per file - is overly punitive and unconstitutional.

How the DOJ would handle ongoing RIAA lawsuits was a major concern to the copyleft movement once several senior positions in the department were filled with former lawyers who had represented the RIAA in past and current cases. The recent filing is seen by RIAA critics as proving the DOJ is now in the tank for the music industry. It's not clear any of the newly appointed lawyers have a direct role in the case.

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