After legal bills may use donations to fund expert witnesses for others accused of illegal file-sharing.
Late last week Joel Tenenbaum was found guilty of illegally "making available" 30 songs on KaZaA and ordered to pay $675,000 USD, some $22,500 for each, or nearly 2.5 times what Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay.
If the amount stands he has already announced that he’ll declare bankruptcy so the RIAA is unlikely to ever see a cent of the $675,000.
In the meantime donations have been pouring in and Tenenbaum has had to decide what best to do with the money.
"We don’t want the RIAA to be paid when I can’t afford to do it, and this money could be more valuable elsewhere," he writes on Joel Fights Back. "From the money raised already, I would like to reimburse my legal team for the money they’ve spent out of their own pockets, and we’ll have more court costs yet, so we will use the donations to keep us in court as far as we need to go."
He realizes that the whole affair is of his own doing, that the lawsuit is against him and he hasn’t asked anyone to be responsible for conduct of his own doing.
"That being said, people started spontaneously messaging me, facebooking me, and twittering me — some even felt compelled to donate — and I have been touched," he adds. "So many people saw this as their fight too, and so many people just wanted to ask how I was. I can’t keep up with the response I’ve been getting and it’s been inspiring."
Tenenbaum has decided that if any donations remain after his case winds its way through the courts that there should be a discussion about how best to use them, and he welcomes input from his supporters.
It’s still too early to make such a decision, but he notes Ray Beckerman’s, of Recording Industry vs the People, recommendation that they be used to fund expert witness testimony for others accused of illegal file-sharing.
So if there ever was a time to literally "give your two cents" on something of importance this is it, and you can rest assured it’ll go to a good cause.
Stay tuned.
Jews suing jews, oy vey!