If there’s one guy fighting the good fight against the RIAA out there who confuses us greatly, it’s Charles Nesson. He’s defending Joel Tenenbaum pro bono (good), but he’s doing so by trying to argue that all file sharing is fair use (strange). Apparently he’s also been making audio recordings of various proceedings in the trial of Sony BMG vs. Tenenbaum, which the RIAA is trying to get taken off the internet. According to Massachusetts law, both parties in a trial have to consent to any recordings made public. It’s odd that a Harvard Law professor wouldn’t be familiar with prudent case law regarding federal trials, but we’ll take it at face value. Judge Nancy Gertner, who is presiding over the case, has since sided with the RIAA on this and is requiring Mr. Nesson to show cause for the recordings he made.
Upon initially hearing this law, Nesson called it “outrageously unconstitutional,” saying that he would rather “honor the United States Constitution and take [his] chances,” and we couldn’t agree more. The Sixth Amendment makes it pretty apparent that that the “accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,” and preventing any sort of recording of case proceedings from reaching the masses would undermine this provision blatantly. Additionally, one could argue that preventing recordings of trial proceedings from being made public violates the freedom of the press component of the First Amendment, as it prevents evidence from becoming part of public recording made public violates the freedom of press component of the First Amendment, as it prevents evidence from becoming part of public record.
In this day and age with so much stock being invested in transparency and openness, especially within our executive and judicial branches (we, as Americans, are entitled to view and scrutinize our congressmen’s tax records, voting records, and criminal records), it is increasingly paramount that transcripts of trials (and their 21st century counterparts audio and video recordings) be made equally as transparent and readily available to the public. In a case such as this, it is understandable that the RIAA has a problem with people sharing recordings, but hey, this is America.
Edited by Emily Davidson
