Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Entertainment Law & FinanceLJN NewslettersNewsSections

Download Ruling May Raise Burden for Record Labels

By Thomas B. Scheffey
March 27, 2008
Those who download music to their computers now have two unlikely heroes. One is Janet Bond Arterton, a federal judge who sits in New Haven, CT. The other is Christopher David Brennan, a young Waterford, CT, resident who, among other artists, has reportedly downloaded songs by Billy Joel and Hootie and the Blowfish. Brennan is one of about 30,000 people who have been sued by the music industry in recent years for allegedly taking music from the Internet without paying for it.

Court records show that Brennan's mother was served a notice last year, but neither she nor Christopher showed up in court or offered any defense for downloading 2,071 songs. Meanwhile, lawyers from the Stamford, CT, offices of Robinson & Cole filed polished briefs on behalf of music companies Atlantic, Elektra, Interscope, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and BMG Music, explaining why their clients should receive as much as $750 for each song that Brennan allegedly downloaded illegally. They accused him of copying, distributing and 'making the recordings available' for distribution to others and asked for a default judgment.

Arterton denied the request. She concluded that the copying and distributing counts were not well pled. And as a matter of law, Arterton ruled, 'making available' is a dubious count. The judge said it was not enough to show that Christopher Brennan had music files on his computer. She said the industry had to prove he shared them with others. 'Without actual distribution, there is no violation of the distribution right,' Arterton noted in her decision, citing copyright scholar William F. Patry. Atlantic Recording Corp. v. Brennan, 3:07cv232 (JBA).

This premium content is locked for Entertainment Law & Finance subscribers only

  • Stay current on the latest information, rulings, regulations, and trends
  • Includes practical, must-have information on copyrights, royalties, AI, and more
  • Tap into expert guidance from top entertainment lawyers and experts

For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473

Read These Next
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough Image

There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.

Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs Image

A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.

Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It Image

Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?

A Lawyer's System for Active Reading Image

Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.

Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners Image

Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.