Covering the Joel Tenenbaum trial

Just a heads-up: starting Monday I will be in Judge Nancy Gertner's courtroom in Boston to cover the Joel Tenenbaum trial. I will be writing daily dispatches for Ars Technica (cross-posted to this blog), and will likely do a post-trial piece for Billboard as well. I have been approved for press credentials, which will permit me to bring a laptop into the courtroom, though I'm not certain about the availability of wireless access, or whether I will be permitted to post to this blog or to my Twitter account from the courtroom itself, consistent with the court rules. In any event, I do plan to do quick updates during breaks via Twitter; please follow me: @bensheffner.

Judge Gertner has told the parties that trial will go each day from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 or 5:00 p.m., and that she intends to wrap the whole thing up by Friday, July 31. The scope of the trial remains in some doubt, as we await the court's rulings (which may be issued today) on the following motions:

• Plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment on fair use

• Plaintiffs' motion to exclude John Palfrey as an expert witness

• Plaintiffs' motion to limit the testimony of defense expert Johan Pouwelse

• Plaintiffs' motion to exclude Felix Oberholzer-Gee as an expert

• Plaintiffs' motion to exclude Wayne Marshall as a fact witness