Lower Court Proceedings
Four recording companies who held the copyrights in the songs that the defendant downloaded filed a lawsuit accusing the defendant of copyright infringement. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois agreed with the plaintiffs, and entered summary judgment for the plaintiffs. The trial court rejected the defendant's "fair use" defense. As a remedy, the trial court (1) awarded the plaintiffs $22,500 in statutory damages (representing the statutory minimum of $750 times the defendant's 30 infringing downloads), and (2) issued a permanent injunction forbidding the defendant to download copyrighted recordings owned by the plaintiffs.
The defendant appealed to the Seventh Circuit.
Read more about this topic: BMG Music V. Gonzalez
Famous quotes containing the words court and/or proceedings:
“At court I met it, in clothes brave enough
To be a courtier, and looks grave enough
To seem a statesman.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)
“From his proceedings in Congress, he appears demented, and his actings and doings inspire my pity more than anger.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)