RIAA hack Matt Oppenheim ‘charm offensive’
p2pnet news view P2P | RIAA:- Joel Tenenbaum, 25, used to be just a Boston University graduate student looking forward to life as a doctor of physics —- once he’d won his degree.
Unfortunately, though, he loves music.
In one of Not-So-Golden-Oldie Harry Rodger Webb’s early hits, he sings, “I’ve got a handful of songs to sell ya”. And that’s where it’s at for him.
Music = $.
You’d know Webb as Cliff Richard and he’s among other rock ancients including Paul McCartney, U2, Yoko Ono [Yoko Ono?], Barry Gibb, Petula Clark and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa [?] who, “already have enough cash stashed away to keep themselves, their children, their children’s children, their children’s children’s children’s, and so on, in luxury,” p2pnet wrote earlier this year, going on:
“But No. The greedy sods want more. They were among 4,500 artists who last year signed a newspaper advertisement demanding the UK government extend the copyright in sound recordings to 95 years and now they’re, ‘celebrating a major victory’ because a European Parliament committee says it’s OK to boost it to 95 years”.
And now Joel is a graduate student looking for $675,000.
To pay for a handful of songs.
Because like Jammie Thomas-Rasset, he’s being hung out to dry by a coterie of venal Korporate Kopyright Klan executives who believe there’s no such thing as enough.
Except Jamie has to come up with not $675,00, but $1.92 million for 24 songs.
Now, Part I of a week-long series, Joel, “relives the ups and downs of his trial,” says The Guardian newspaper.
And quoting his write up in the UK newspaper in Joel Fights Back, “The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts is a marvel of modern architecture,” he says, going on »»»
The design places emphasis on hopeful transparency and features stone-engraved quotations evoking notions of freedom and equality.
On the Monday morning of my trial, I met my mother (along with my spokeswoman Debbie, and my defence lawyer professor Charles Nesson) outside the courthouse, and we stepped inside.
The room had high-tech monitors for the 16 chairs where the jury sat, an overhead camera and hidden cameras built into fake law books … but no windows to the outside. Is this a reminder of the technological transparency that had been blocked a few months earlier? After all, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) fought to overturn judge Gertner’s decision that the trial be webcast.
Once inside the courtroom, the trial began. Judge Gertner stated that, as an unabashed night owl, she had issued a ruling last night. “Very late last night,” she added. At 1.37am, she had stripped us of our “fair use” defence. A jury wouldn’t even be allowed to hear it. Our defence was now about convincing the jury that the fine for a song shouldn’t be several thousand times its worth on iTunes.
As discussion of procedure continued, I saw a list of names on the defendant’s table. I realised that this assortment of unfamiliar titles and occupations was the list of 10 citizens who would decide my fate. The jurors were each brought in to the adjacent courtroom for questioning, with the goal of sniffing out inappropriate bias. Each person meekly approached a long table where we were all seated.
Almost immediately, the contrast was evident between my attorney, the passionate law professor, and the RIAA’s lead attorney, Matthew Oppenheim, a longtime corporate lawyer who proudly lays claim to shutting down Napster.
Oppenheim seemed to be running a charm offensive: “Good morning, [grin] I’m Matt Oppenheim, thank you for being here. Though this is my job, I recognise that this is a civic duty for you, and we appreciate you being here [grin]. I’d like to start by asking you a few questions.”
Nesson, on the other hand, would say, “Hi, I’m Charles Nesson”. He would then pause, look the potential juror in the eye, and ask, “What’s your passion?” or “What kind of music do you like?” Surprised at the question, each person would begin sheepishly, then answer proudly and passionately. Responses ranged from “I like an eclectic mix of music” to “Oh, everything! Well, everything but country”.
I found myself inspired by how many people simply and sincerely said that their passion was their “family” or their “two beautiful daughters”.
Oppenheim’s questions were more conventional: “Do you have any opinions about record companies?” and “Do you think record companies should have the right to enforce their copyrights?” Some people were well-versed in the debate and had even talked to their kids about downloading – they were dismissed for having bias against the record companies.
Other people were also dismissed because they had downloaded music themselves. The result left us with a chemist, a pet trainer, a nurse assistant, a business development manager, and others with nothing in common but me.
Judge Gertner was adamant that the case be finished by Friday. We had offered to split the week in half; the plaintiffs disagreed, saying it was “impossible” for them to present their case in an equal share of time. The result was to split it on the basis of time “needed”: three days for the plaintiffs, a half day for us. I started to worry about being called, assuming it would happen the next day.
Part II tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
p2pnet – Not-So-Golden-Oldies score copyright win, February 13, 2009
$1.92 million for 24 songs – Jamie Thomas-Rasset’s $1.92 million playlist, June 19, 2009
The Guardian – Filesharer Joel Tenenbaum’s trial diary: Part one, August 6, 2009
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August 7th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Watch the YouTube video of Oppie going on about Joel’s crimes.
I’d post a link but the LNB or somethign like that appears gone. The date posted was August 5, 2009. Two interviews, one with Charles N. via his sailing vessel and the other with Oppie.
August 7th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
If you’re going to pontificate, do your homework first. The Handful of Songs you refer to was Tommy Steele’s, not Cliff Richard’s.