On Wednesday, January 14th, District Judge Nancy Gertner granted so much of the defendant’s motion as sought to televise, over the internet, the January 22, 2009, oral arguments of the parties’ motions concerning the defendant’s counterclaims, in SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum.
The ruling did not address the issue of televising subsequent proceedings, including the trial.
This is believed to be the first time that proceedings in an RIAA case will be televised. (If anyone has any contrary information, please let me know.).
Under the ruling CVN will “narrowcast” the audio-visual coverage to the website of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, which will make the recording publicly available for all non-commercial uses via its website.
The argument will be on Thursday, January 22nd, at 2:00 p.m.
Judge Gertner questioned the plaintiffs’ motivation for objecting:
"While the Plaintiffs object to the narrowcasting of this proceeding, …. their objections are curious. At previous hearings and status conferences, the Plaintiffs have represented that they initiated these lawsuits not because they believe they will identify every person illegally downloading copyrighted material. Rather, they believe that the lawsuits will deter the Defendants and the wider public from engaging in illegal file-sharing activities. Their strategy effectively relies on the publicity resulting from this litigation."
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html#3145693789782359556
Two days later the RIAA filed an "appeal" from Judge Gertner’s order, although it is questionable whether the order was appealable.
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html#7637617374460254711