A jury in a high-profile federal copyright infringement trial on Friday ordered a Boston University graduate student to pay $675,000 to several record companies for illegally downloading and distributing 30 of their songs.
Joel Tenenbaum appeared stoic as the jury announced that each of the 30 counts of willful infringement would cost him $22,500. The tab — while steep — is far less than the $4.5 million that the companies could have received had the jury imposed the maximum per-song damages allowed under law. Copyright law allows for damages of $750 to $30,000 for each copyright infringement and up to $150,000 for each willful infringement.
