BMG Music v. Gonzalez: Difference between revisions
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'''''BMG Music v. Gonzalez''''', 430 F.3d 888 (7th Cir. 2005), was a |
'''''BMG Music v. Gonzalez''''', 430 F.3d 888 (7th Cir. 2005), was a court decision in which the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit]] ruled that a record company could sue a person who engaged in [[File sharing|online sharing]] of music files for [[copyright infringement]].<ref name=":0">''BMG Music v. Gonzalez'', [https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=13750328162489237159&q=430+F.3d+888&hl=en&as_sdt=6,39 430 F. 3d 888] (7th. Cir., 2005)</ref> The decision is noteworthy for rejecting the defendant's [[fair use]] defense, which had rested upon the defendant's contention that she was merely "sampling" songs with the intention of possibly purchasing the downloaded songs in the future, which is known as "Try before you buy". |
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== Facts == |
== Facts == |
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Over a period of several weeks, |
Over a period of several weeks, defendant Cecelia Gonzalez [[download]]ed an estimated 1,370 copyrighted songs onto her computer using the [[Kazaa|KaZaA]] [[peer-to-peer]] [[file sharing]] service, without authorization from the holders of the copyrights in the underlying compositions and sound recordings. Gonzalez owned [[compact disc]]s containing some fraction of the songs that she downloaded. The parties disagreed on precisely how many of Gonzalez's downloads represented songs that the defendant already owned on CD, but it was undisputed that the defendant had never owned authorized copies of 30 of the songs she downloaded. Gonzalez retained at least these 30 songs on her computer's hard drive even after deciding not to purchase them on CD.<ref name=":0" /> |
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== Lower court proceedings == |
== Lower court proceedings == |
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Four recording companies who held the copyrights in the songs that |
Four recording companies who held the copyrights in the songs that Gonzalez downloaded filed a [[lawsuit]] accusing her of copyright infringement. The [[United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois]] ruled in favor of the plaintiffs record companies. The district court rejected the defendant's fair use defense against the infringement claim. The court awarded the plaintiffs $22,500 in [[statutory damages for copyright infringement|statutory damages]] (representing the statutory minimum of $750 times the defendant's 30 infringing downloads), and issued a [[injunction|permanent injunction]] forbidding Gonzalez from downloading copyrighted recordings owned by the plaintiffs in the future.<ref>''BMG Music v. Gonzalez'', 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 910 (N.D.Ill., 2005).</ref> Gonzalez appealed to the Seventh Circuit. |
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== Appeals court decision == |
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The defendant appealed to the Seventh Circuit. |
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| ⚫ | The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision in its entirety. The circuit court first reasoned that the copies of the songs that Gonzalez had downloaded were infringing copies, rejecting her analogy to the [[time shifting]] doctrine handed down in the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]]'s landmark ''[[Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.]] ''precedent.<ref name=":1">{{ussc|name=Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.|link=|volume=464|page=417|pin=|year=1984}}. {{usgovpd}}</ref> |
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== Court of Appeals == |
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| ⚫ | The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision in its entirety. |
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Turning to the defense of fair use, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that it was obliged to apply the four statutory factors given in [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html Section 107] of the [[Copyright Act of 1976#Fair use|Copyright Act of 1976]] for determining whether the defendant's copying of the plaintiffs' works qualified as a lawful "fair use." |
Turning to the defense of fair use, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that it was obliged to apply the four statutory factors given in [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html Section 107] of the [[Copyright Act of 1976#Fair use|Copyright Act of 1976]] for determining whether the defendant's copying of the plaintiffs' works qualified as a lawful "fair use." |
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Revision as of 20:22, 27 September 2022
| BMG Music v. Gonzalez | |
|---|---|
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| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit |
| Full case name | BMG Music, et al. v. Cecelia Gonzalez |
| Decided | December 9, 2005 |
| Citation | 430 F.3d 888 |
| Case history | |
| Prior action | 2005 WL 106592 (N.D. Ill. Jan. 7, 2005 ) (granting summary judgment for plaintiffs) |
| Subsequent actions | cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S. Ct. 2032, 164 L. Ed. 2d 782 (2006) |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Frank H. Easterbrook, Terence T. Evans, and Ann Claire Williams |
| Case opinions | |
| where user of file-sharing software downloaded over 1,000 copyrighted songs without authority of copyright holders, court rejected fair use to defense to claim for copyright infringement based on user's contention that she was merely "sampling" the works for possible future purchase | |
BMG Music v. Gonzalez, 430 F.3d 888 (7th Cir. 2005), was a court decision in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that a record company could sue a person who engaged in online sharing of music files for copyright infringement.[1] The decision is noteworthy for rejecting the defendant's fair use defense, which had rested upon the defendant's contention that she was merely "sampling" songs with the intention of possibly purchasing the downloaded songs in the future, which is known as "Try before you buy".
Facts
Over a period of several weeks, defendant Cecelia Gonzalez downloaded an estimated 1,370 copyrighted songs onto her computer using the KaZaA peer-to-peer file sharing service, without authorization from the holders of the copyrights in the underlying compositions and sound recordings. Gonzalez owned compact discs containing some fraction of the songs that she downloaded. The parties disagreed on precisely how many of Gonzalez's downloads represented songs that the defendant already owned on CD, but it was undisputed that the defendant had never owned authorized copies of 30 of the songs she downloaded. Gonzalez retained at least these 30 songs on her computer's hard drive even after deciding not to purchase them on CD.[1]
Lower court proceedings
Four recording companies who held the copyrights in the songs that Gonzalez downloaded filed a lawsuit accusing her of copyright infringement. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled in favor of the plaintiffs record companies. The district court rejected the defendant's fair use defense against the infringement claim. The court awarded the plaintiffs $22,500 in statutory damages (representing the statutory minimum of $750 times the defendant's 30 infringing downloads), and issued a permanent injunction forbidding Gonzalez from downloading copyrighted recordings owned by the plaintiffs in the future.[2] Gonzalez appealed to the Seventh Circuit.
Appeals court decision
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision in its entirety. The circuit court first reasoned that the copies of the songs that Gonzalez had downloaded were infringing copies, rejecting her analogy to the time shifting doctrine handed down in the Supreme Court's landmark Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. precedent.[3]
Turning to the defense of fair use, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that it was obliged to apply the four statutory factors given in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 for determining whether the defendant's copying of the plaintiffs' works qualified as a lawful "fair use."
Section 107 provides that when considering a defense of fair use the court must take into account “(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.”[1]
Most of these factors, the Court noted, weighed against the defendant:
Gonzalez was not engaged in a nonprofit use; she downloaded (and kept) whole copyrighted songs (for which, as with poetry, copying of more than a couplet or two is deemed excessive); and she did this despite the fact that these works often are sold per song as well as per album. This leads her to concentrate on the fourth consideration: “the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.[2]
The defendant argued that downloading songs for the purpose of "sampling" would have a positive effect on the market for those songs, spurring sales of the songs the defendant enjoyed enough to purchase. The Court of Appeals declared that this argument was both factually unsupported and inconsistent with the Supreme Court's recent Grokster decision and with other cases involving file-sharing and copyright infringement:
As she tells the tale, downloading on a try-before-you-buy basis is good advertising for copyright proprietors, expanding the value of their inventory. The Supreme Court thought otherwise in Grokster, with considerable empirical support. As file sharing has increased over the last four years, the sales of recorded music have dropped by approximately 30%. Perhaps other economic factors contributed, but the events likely are related. Music downloaded for free from the Internet is a close substitute for purchased music; many people are bound to keep the downloaded files without buying originals. That is exactly what Gonzalez did for at least 30 songs. It is no surprise, therefore, that the only appellate decision on point has held that downloading copyrighted songs cannot be defended as fair use, whether or not the recipient plans to buy songs she likes well enough to spring for. See A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004, 1014-19 (9th Cir. 2001). See also UMG Recordings, Inc. v. MP3.com, Inc., 92 F. Supp. 2d 349 (S.D.N.Y. 2000) (holding that downloads are not fair use even if the downloader already owns one purchased copy).[3]
Although the copyright holders might indeed benefit if downloaders purchased additional CDs containing songs they had "sampled" and enjoyed, the court continued, "sampling" nevertheless deprived copyright holders of the revenues they might have earned from licensing authorized downloads of their works.
The court also upheld the award of $22,500 in statutory damages against the defendant, noting that this amount represented the minimum award provided under the statute for works (such as the plaintiffs') that had been published with an adequate copyright notice. The court rejected the defendant's argument that the Seventh Amendment guaranteed her the right to a jury trial as to the appropriate amount of damages. The court reasoned, in essence, that where the plaintiff sought only the minimum amount of damages provided under the statute, there were no disputed issues as to the proper amount of damages for a jury to resolve, and the issue of damages was appropriate for summary resolution. Finally, the court upheld the district court's permanent injunction against the defendant's downloading of copyrighted works.
See also
- Harper v. Maverick Recording Co. - case referenced
Notes
1 ^ slip op. at 3.
2 ^ slip op. at 3.
3 ^ slip op. at 3–4.
External links
- Full text of the decision from Google Scholar
- Promises to Keep: Technology, Law, and the Future of Entertainment (2004), a book published before the Gonzalez case was decided, included an argument (pp. 116–19) supporting the view that downloading for "sampling" purposes should qualify as fair use.
- Selected analysis and commentary on the decision from
- ^ a b BMG Music v. Gonzalez, 430 F. 3d 888 (7th. Cir., 2005)
- ^ BMG Music v. Gonzalez, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 910 (N.D.Ill., 2005).
- ^ Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (1984).
This article incorporates public domain material from this U.S government document.