San Diego-based MP3.com was initially delighted with the verdict after being sued for $8.5 million. It issued a press release entitled “Claim for Millions Severely Limited by New York Jury.”
The jurors, one of whom was a high school maths teacher, had to calculate damages based on MP3.com putting 145 works on its site in which the copyrights were owned by TVT. They had to decide how much TVT should be paid for each work. The jury awarded $3,125 per violation for several of the works, but later admitted that they had intended to award $31,250 per violation. They were only aware of the total sum payable on seeing press reports after the hearing.
In a rare judicial move, US District Judge Jed Rakoff called the jury back to court yesterday to determine what to do about the verdict. He said he will decide the matter in the next few weeks.