Maine law students enter battle on downloading, against record labels

 

Maine law students enter battle on downloading, against record labels

By TREVOR MAXWELL
Blethen Maine Newspapers  01/07/2008

Lisa Chmelecki and Hannah Ames, friends and third-year students at the University of Maine School of Law in Portland, had never studied copyright law before a few months ago, and were unfamiliar with a historic legal battle brewing on college campuses nationwide.

Now they're right in the middle of it.

Chmelecki and Ames, under the supervision of Professor Deirdre Smith, are defending two college students who have been sued for copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America. The cases came to them through the law school's legal aid clinic, which provides representation to low-income residents.

Chmelecki and Ames filed briefs last month in federal court, and are waiting for a judge to rule on their motion to dismiss the cases against their clients.

They argue that the digital information used by the recording industry to bring the lawsuits falls short of a new legal standard, set by the U.S. Supreme Court in a decision in May.

"We're defending the process," said Ames, 25, a Harpswell native. "The RIAA needs to follow the rules, the same way everyone else needs to." Their involvement in the case has captured national attention from lawyers, bloggers and others who intensely follow technology law. The upcoming decision could set a precedent for other students facing RIAA lawsuits. It's all part of a larger debate about the future of information and the Internet.

"There are a lot of law students all across the country, who are just sitting there, being envious of what is happening in Maine," said Ray Beckerman, a New York City lawyer who has emerged as the chief opponent of the recording industry.

Beckerman said this is the first time a university's legal aid clinic has assisted any of the hundreds of college students taken to court for copyright infringement in the past 10 months.

The Recording Industry Association of America - the trade group for music giants like Sony, Warner Bros. and Capitol Records - launched a litigation campaign against college students last February. The industry claims it loses billions each year to illegal file-sharing, and much of the activity happens on campus.

Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, said courts have consistently accepted the industry's practices and arguments. She said the industry has prevailed in almost every instance in which attorneys have moved to dismiss a case or quash a subpoena.

"I think that speaks in and of itself," Duckworth said. "We have followed the letter of the law."

The industry monitors the Internet and captures data from computers where copyrighted music files are available for others to download.

Lawyers for the industry then ask colleges to forward notification letters to the students whose accounts are red-flagged. At that point, the industry still does not have the names of the computer users.

Students can settle with a cash payment. If they don't, the industry files a "John Doe" lawsuit and gets a court order that forces colleges to release the name. Settlements generally range between $3,000 and $5,000, and hundreds of students have chosen that route.

The RIAA filed "John Doe" lawsuits against 26 students in Maine last March, and against another 27 in October. Many have settled, and others remain in various stages within the federal court system. None has gone to trial.

Two of the students called for help from the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, a project of the University of Maine School of Law.

The clinic allows third-year students to practice law, working for low-income clients who otherwise would not be able to afford representation. The students are supervised and must follow special rules within the state and federal courts.

Chmelecki and Ames were assigned to the copyright infringement cases. They were unique to the clinic, which mostly handles criminal and family matters such as divorce and child custody.

Although they did not have a background in copyright law, Chmelecki said she and Ames approached the cases with the same intensity as they would any other matter.

They worked late nights and weekends, while at the same time studying for final exams, and working as interns for the Cumberland County District Attorney's Office. They started by reviewing the basics of copyright law and waded into the complex nuances of U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

"As a student, you just want to do the absolute best job that you can," said Chmelecki, 34, a former reporter for the Lewiston Sun Journal. She praised the legal aid clinic and its director, Professor Smith, for giving them the opportunity to practice the lessons they learn in the classroom.

Chmelecki, Ames and Smith also consulted with Bob Mittel, of the Portland firm MittelAsen LLC. Mittel has represented several of the Maine students over the past year, including eight of the unnamed defendants sued in October. Mittel said they discussed strategy, but credited Chmelecki and Ames for doing their own work and delivering a strong argument to U.S. District Judge John Woodcock.

"It's great," Mittel said. "What Deirdre Smith did here is just very special, getting those kids into a situation where they could start to lift off the ground, in a very nice context."

Chmelecki said that even when she and Ames were researching and drafting their briefs for the cases, they had no idea about the larger controversy surrounding the RIAA lawsuits, and the intense public interest. Journalists and bloggers from around the country have been calling the clinic's office to discuss the cases.

"I'm glad I didn't know," Chmelecki said. "Writing the briefs would have been a lot more difficult for me, under that kind of pressure."

Maine law students enter battle on downloading, against record labels