Harvard Prof Counsel in RIAA Case Ordered to Show Cause
A judge told Harvard University law professor Charles Nesson that he has until Thursday to explain why he should not be sanctioned for his “blatant disregard” of her court orders.
Nesson is representing Joel Tenenbaum pro bono in the second file-sharing lawsuit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner wrote in her one-paragraph order that she is “deeply concerned” that Nesson has violated two of her orders, Wired’s Threat Level blog reports.
“Both orders made clear that deposition recordings, while permitted within the terms of Rule 30(b)(3), were not to be made public via the internet. Indeed, at the hearing, the Court said that ‘recording’ the upcoming deposition did not mean ‘posting it on the internet,’ to which Mr. Nesson replied, ‘OK. Thank you.’ “
RIAA attorney Daniel Cloherty submitted a motion to compel on Monday asking that Nesson be ordered to stop posting case recordings to Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society website and Nesson’s own blog.
Nesson responded to some of Cloherty’s individual accusations that were mentioned in the show cause order in a blog post today. Regarding the July 1 deposition of copyright expert John Palfrey:
“The portions of the Palfrey deposition posted on my website relate to deposition instructions and Mr. Oppenheim’s objection to my twittering. They in no way relate to what Mr. Oppenheim considers to be the substance of the case, and provide no basis whatever for imagining that the posting would taint the jury pool.”
