A federal appeals court is ordering a university student to pay the
Recording Industry Association of America $27,750 - $750 a track - for
file sharing 37 songs when she was a high school cheerleader.
The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a Texas
federal judge who had ordered defendant Whitney Harper to pay $7,400, or
$200 per song. The lower court had granted her an "innocent infringer's"
exemption to the Copyright Act’s minimum of $750 per track because she
said she didn't know she was violating copyrights and thought file sharing
was akin to internet radio streaming.
The appeals court, however, said the woman was not eligible for such a
defense even if it was true she was between 14 and 16 years old when the
infringing activity occurred on Limewire. The reason, the court concluded,
is that the Copyright Act precludes such a defense if the legitimate CDs
of the music in question provide copyright notices.
Harper, now 22 and a Texas Tech senior, said in 2008 interview that she
didn't know what she did was wrong when she file shared Eminem, the
Police, Mariah Carey and others as a teen.
"I knew I was listening to music. I didn't have an understanding of file
sharing," she said.
Scott Mackenzie, the woman's attorney, said Friday that "She's going to
graduate with a federal judgment against her." The RIAA, which has sued
thousands of people for infringement, labeled Harper as "vexatious" when
she refused to settle the case.
Only two RIAA cases against individuals have gone to trial, both of which
earned the RIAA whopping verdicts.
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