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Claimants seek enough damages to end global poverty Folklaw has seen some fairly interesting claims for damages in its time, but this one is simply awesome. The Am Law Daily has reported that 13 record companies are taking file-sharing company LimeWire to the cleaners for copyright infringement. Not unusual, we hear you say, until we add that they are seeking damages to the tune of $75 trillion (which happens to be more than five times the US national debt)! But unfortunately for them, Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Kimba Wood didn’t share their enthusiasm for endless riches, labelling the damages request “absurd” and contrary to copyright laws. The record companies, which demanded damages in the range of a measly $400 billion
to a comfortable $75 trillion, argued that section 504(c)(1) of the Copyright Act provided for damages for each instance of infringement where two or more parties were liable. For a site like LimeWire, which had thousands of users and millions of downloads, Judge Wood found that the award of damages would, under this interpretation, be staggering. “If plaintiffs were able to pursue a statutory damage theory predicated on the number of direct infringers per work, defendants’ damages could reach into the trillions,” she wrote in her 14-page opinion. “As the defendants note, plaintiffs are suggesting an award that is ‘more money than the entire music recording industry has made since Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877’.” Wood did concede, however, that the question of statutory interpretation was “an especially close question”, but came to the conclusion that damages should be restricted to one damage award per work. “We were pleased that the judge followed both the law and the logic in reaching the conclusion that she did,” said LimeWire’s lawyer. “As the judge said in her opinion, when the copyright law was initiated, legislatures couldn’t possibly conceive of what the world would become with the internet. As such, you couldn’t use legislative history. Instead, the overarching issue is reasonableness in order to avoid [an] absurd and possibly unconstitutional outcome.” The lawyers also said, not unreasonably, that the money sought by the record companies could be better spent on health care or wiping out the national debt (or, you know, ending global poverty).
Lawyer declares himself president A Filipino lawyer has gatecrashed a conference to declare himself the head of an area in the Philippines. Self-described “international lawyer” Ely Pamatong entered a hotel where Filipino President Benigno Aquino III was due to speak at a conference last month. Pamatong, known as much for his dress sense (he was wearing a fetching red barong) as for his ability to garner publicity, was quietly asked to leave shortly after entering. According to Davao News, Pamatong said he wanted to distribute pamphlets in his advocacy for a separate state for Mindanao, the second-largest island region in the Philippines, which has a significant Muslim presence in a country that is largely Christian. Despite rebel groups on the island being engaged in a campaign for independence, Pamatong, who does not hold an official political post, declared himself as its president. Pamatong ran for the Filipino presidency in 2004, but was declared a nuisance candidate.
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He has since commenced legal action against the Catholic Church on the grounds that its loudspeakers disturbed the peace; attempted to impeach former president Gloria Arroyo; and then had another shot at the presidency in 2009, telling reporters: “I might not be a billionaire but I have brains. I scored 92 per cent in the American Bar Exams, was an undefeated debater and you call me a nuisance?” Folklaw hopes that Pamatong realises that “having brains” and being the leader of a country are not necessarily related.
Bushfire class action brings on brain freeze Every so often, esteemed members of the legal profession do something that makes Folklaw wonder what they were thinking. One such case has emerged in Victoria, with the team at Oldham Naidoo Lawyers showing that high intellect and ethics were – at least temporarily – suspended when they decided to launch a class action back in 2008. The Age reports that Oldham Naidoo partner Daniel Oldham commenced a class action in the name of a Melbourne doctor, Hershal Cohen. The problem is, the good Dr Cohen had no idea that he was named as the lead plaintiff in the action. This issue eventually came to light, and Supreme Court Judge Jack Forrest has now been left to decide whether to throw the class action out, in light of Oldham’s admission that an “abuse of process” did indeed take place. Speaking of the firm’s conduct, Judge Forrest said, “The ignorance is breathtaking.” The class action was launched on 24 December 2008, just prior to the expiration of the six-year statute of limitations following the 2003 Victorian alpine bushfires that destroyed more than one million hectares of land. The class action was based on accusations that the Government failed to adequately back-burn and reduce forestfloor litter in state parks, thus putting private property at risk. The court heard that Oldham Naidoo Lawyers had discussed the possibility of becoming a group member in the class action with Cohen, though they never suggested he would be named as the lead plaintiff. The State Government is seeking to have the action thrown out, with Peter Riordan SC suggesting “the court would not want to see its processes abused”. “There are reasons why in a class action solicitors who may stand to gain substantial fees may ... file proceedings,” Riordan said. Riordan accused Oldham of deliberately concealing the lawsuit from Cohen while knowing he did not own any property pertinent to the case, and deliberately misleading the court by claiming Cohen had instructed him to act. Stewart Anderson SC, acting for Oldham Naidoo, said dismissing the class action would cause overwhelming prejudice to class action group members because they would be unable to make a claim. However, Riordan was quick to point out that no such people had come forward, apart from one man who now happens to live in Switzerland.
w w w.law yersweekly.com.au