Back in October, Joel Tenenbaum, an undergraduate at Boston University, received a notice from the copyright infringement boogieman, also known as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), that he was being sued for illegally downloading and sharing copyrighted music.

Today, in a Rhode Island federal court, Harvard Law School Professor Charles Nesson will defend Tenenbaum, who is facing a hefty $1 million fine for sharing seven songs through the peer-to-peer application Kazaa (who knew it stilled existed?!).

Naturally, given the absurdity of the fine, the crux of Nesson’s argument heading into today’s trial is that the RIAA is extorting random file-sharers for the sake of fear mongering.

The Profy reports:

At the time of alleged infringement Joel was a teenager and his sharing of songs, while illegal, is exactly what the majority of teenagers still do around the world. More than that, I am quite sure Joel was not the only person sharing music files in Kazaa at the time - yet he is the only one chosen by RIAA to sue. So I think it is quite obvious that the purpose behind this particular lawsuit is neither to punish this particular person, nor to compensate for the copyright infringement - instead they merely want to use Joel’s case as an example of what trouble you can get yourself into by sharing a handful of songs online.

One-million dollars for seven songs? Really?

If the RIAA is trying to hide their ulterior motives, they’re doing a poor job of it.

Still, for students and members of the file-sharing community, this case will be one to watch. If Nesson and Tenenbaum succeed in their countersuit, it could strike a major blow to the RIAA's questionable practices.

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