Harper must pay the RIAA $27,750 for file sharing that began when she was 14. 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 Thursday 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 infringers exemption to the Copyright Acts minimum of $750 per track because she said she didnt 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 cannot rely on her purported legal naivety to defeat the bar to her innocent infringer defense, the New Orleans-based appeals court ruled unanimously, 3-0.
Harper, now 22 and a Texas Tech senior, said in 2008 interview that she didnt 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 Shes 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.
The decision Thursday 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 infringers exemption to the Copyright Acts minimum of $750 per track because she said she didnt 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 cannot rely on her purported legal naivety to defeat the bar to her innocent infringer defense, the New Orleans-based appeals court ruled unanimously, 3-0.
Harper, now 22 and a Texas Tech senior, said in 2008 interview that she didnt 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 Shes 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.
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