the consequences of innumeracy on IP enforcement
Jury Intended Higher Award Against MP3.Com NEW YORK--A federal judge is considering what to do about an almost $300,000 copyright infringement verdict awarded against online music company MP3.com (MPPP.O) after jurors told him their math was wrong and they had intended a figure of several million dollars. On Friday a Manhattan federal jury ordered MP3.com to pay the damages to independent record label Tee Vee Toons, which represents artists such as Snoop Dogg and Nine-Inch Nails. MP3.com hailed the verdict as a victory because Tee Vee was seeking $8.5 million for the illegal copying about 145 of its copyrighted works. Later, however, at least two of the eight jurors contacted U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who presided over the trial, and said the amount should have been in the range of $2 million to $3 million. Rakoff told lawyers at a hearing on Monday that the jurors apparently omitted a zero when assessing the damage amount for the majority of works involved. Instead of $3,125 for each of about 75 works, the damage award should have been $31,250 per work. The judge questioned seven of the jurors in closed proceedings on Monday and concluded with the eighth on Tuesday. He also asked lawyers for MP3.com and Tee Vee to submit arguments about the matter. A clerk for the judge said he is not expected to rule for about three weeks. Privately owned TVT Records, which owns Tee Veen Toons, had sued MP3.com claiming its Instant Listening service violated TVT copyrights by making TVT songs available to Web surfers for listening online. http://www.latimes.com/wires/20010410/tCB00a8779.html
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Blank Frank