• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, January 6, 2012

Boston grad student Joel Tenenbaum is again trying to convince a judge to reduce the amount he must pay the record industry for sharing 30 tracks on Kazaa. In new legal papers filed this week, Tenenbaum says the judgment against him should be reduced from $675,000 to the statutory minimum of $22,500, or $750 a track.

Tenenbaum's papers, filed this week, mark the latest twist in one of the most famous file-sharing lawsuits brought by the Recording Industry Association of America during its five-year litigation campaign.

Many of the thousands of people sued by the RIAA agreed to pay four-figure settlements. But Tenenbaum, represented by legendary Harvard law professor Charles Nesson, insisted on a trial.

He lost in 2009, when a jury ordered him to pay $22,000 a track. U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner in Boston later ruled that award was unconstitutional and reduced the damages to $67,500, or three times the statutory minimum. The copyright law provides for damages ranging from $750 to $150,000 per work infringed.

The RIAA successfully appealed that ruling to the 1st Circuit, which said Gertner's decision was premature. The appellate court said Gertner shouldn't have taken the rare step of declaring damages unconstitutional without first trying to reduce them under the legal theory known as “remittitur.” That doctrine allows judges to slash damages without making a decision about whether the award would violate the Constitution. In general, courts prefer to decide matters without passing judgment on constitutional questions.

The 1st Circuit sent the matter back to the trial court, where U.S. District Court Judge Rya W. Zobel will decide whether to reduce damages under the “remittitur” doctrine.

This week, Tenenbaum said in court papers that damages should be reduced, given that he was a non-commercial user. “By all appearances, Congress never contemplated that non-businesses or non-competitors would be targeted as they have been in this unprecedented litigation campaign brought by the Recording Industry Association of America,” he argues.

Tenenbaum also says that the easy access to online music should weigh against large damages. “In the new context created by the intersection of computer technology, the Internet, music ... a noncommercial actor double-clicking a mouse on a personal computer triggers liability which is obviously excessive by any standard."

In addition, he says, the record companies' litigation campaign was in response to “the conduct of millions of independent people” -- not just him. “ Punishing Tenenbaum for the offenses of others makes the award against Tenenbaum wholly disproportionate to his offense,” he argues.

An RIAA spokesperson said: “We look forward to responding to Mr. Tenenbaum’s argument in our papers.”