The case of RIAA v. Tenenbaum came to a close July 31 when a federal jury in Boston found Boston University graduate student Joel Tenenbaum guilty of willfully infringing on the copyrights of 30 songs.

The jury ordered Tenenbaum to pay a total of $675,000 in damages – $22,500 per song – to the RIAA, according to official court documents. After four days in court, the jury took three hours of deliberation to hand down the verdict.’

When questioned on the stand, Tenenbaum admitted to illegally downloading more than the 30 songs and to initially lying about his illegal activity.’

In light of his admission, U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner said the only thing the jury would decide was the amount of damages Tenenbaum would pay, according to court documents.’

The RIAA first filed suit against Tenenbaum in August 2007 for illegally sharing songs on the website Kazaa. Since then, the case has experienced several delays concerning whether the trial would be streamed online. In April, the court ruled it unlawful for the trial to be broadcast online, according to court documents.’ ‘

Tenenbaum’s case was only the second copyright infringement case to go to trial, with most settling out of court. In June 2009, a woman from Minneapolis was ordered to pay $1.92 million for sharing 24 songs, according to state court documents.’

In December 2008, record companies staid they would no longer be pursuing individuals who illegally shared music, but that they would follow through with the cases already in progress, according to a December 19, 2008 Wired report.’

‘We are grateful for the jury’s service and their recognition of the impact of illegal downloading on the music community,’ the RIAA said in a press release. ‘We appreciate that Mr. Tenenbaum finally acknowledged that artists and music companies deserve to be paid for their work. From the beginning, that’s what this case has been about. We only wish he had done so sooner rather than lie about his illegal behavior.’

Harvard Law student Debbie Rosenbaum, who is on the team working on Tenenbaum’s case, said Tenenbaum plans to appeal the ruling.’ ‘

‘We have every intention to exhaust all legal options to have that amount reduced and to appeal this decision,’ Rosenbaum said in an e-mail.