the consequences of innumeracy on IP enforcement

[Blank Frank]

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