San Francisco - A Bronx woman sued by the major record labels for file-sharing copyright infringement has taken the novel approach of challenging the constitutionality of the Copyright Act, the law under which she was sued, Wired.com reports.

Denise Barker's attorney, Ray Beckerman, told Wired that Barker admits to having shared eight songs on the Kazaa network in 2004.

Beckerman estimates that actual damages to the industry total just $3.50 per song download, while the penalty for Barker if found guilty is $750 to $150,000 per song.

Beckerman argues that the penalties are unconstitutionally excessive, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts have found that penalties exceeding 9-to-1 are unconstitutional.

"It's an ideal case to litigate the damages issue," Beckerman, who also runs the blog Recording Industry vs. The People, told Wired.

Related Links:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/new-riaa-lawsui.html

http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com