Resolving Disputes Over Music Downloading

On Friday, the Carey Center for Dispute Resolution at St. John’s will host a program titled Reaching Acc[h]ord: Resolving Disputes over Music Downloading. The program will bring together several of the protagonists in the recent dramas over music downloading, including BU student Joel Tenenbaum (hit with a $600,000 judgment for illegal downloading—later reduced to $60,000) and his counsel, Harvard’s Charlie Nesson, as well as other music industry players. Our goal is to generate options for developing a conflict resolution model that would respect both the interests of music copyright owners and the culture of free access to information on the internet. Conflict systems specialist Cathy Costantino will facilitate the conversation.

Initially, we had planned to have representatives from the RIAA and other industry organizations participate. We tried and tried to persuade them that our objective is to talk about dispute systems, not to vilify them or induce them to concede legal points that could be used against them in litigation. No dice. So a key stakeholder won’t be at the table. That’s frustrating, but we are realizing as we prepare for the event that there is a wide range of perspectives and interests among those who have been cast in opposition to the industry. There is an enormous amount to talk about, and it may actually make sense to do the process in stages. Cathy has her work cut out for her.

Recording artist Jake Walden will participate and provide the lunchtime entertainment (you can check out his music in the video below). The program starts at 9:00. It is open to the public and costs $25, which includes lunch. Law students get in free with a student ID. Just shoot me an e-mail at kirgisp@stjohns.edu if you’d like to come.

2 thoughts on “Resolving Disputes Over Music Downloading”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.