District Court Cites Prof. Cotter's Analysis of Statutory Damages in Copyright Law

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts issued an opinion in Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, holding that a jury award of $675,000 against a defendant who illegally downloaded 30 copyrighted songs was unconstitutionally excessive. In the portion of its opinion discussing the role of statutory damages in deterring copyright infringement, the court extensively cited Professor Tom Cotter's article on the law and economics of statutory damages awards (coauthored with Roger D. Blair), "An Economic Analysis of Damages Rules in Intellectual Property Law," 39 William & Mary Law Review 1585 (1998).