Monday, April 20, 2009

Tenenbaum team 'remixes' First Circuit oral argument

I gotta admit: this is pretty cool. "This" is a remix that Joel Tenenbaum's legal team has made from the official recording of the April 8 oral argument in the First Circuit over whether district court proceedings in the record labels' copyright suit against Tenenbaum could be webcast. The remix (that's what Tenenbaum's team called it on their Twitter feed; on the site it's a more pedestrian "slideshow") consists of the audio from the appellate argument, illustrated by pictures of the judges and counsel, and the text of the relevant local rule. It's also interspersed with video of Tenenbaum's counsel, Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, interacting with his students in a fairly traditional -- and quite cogent -- Socratic dialogue over the interpretation of Local Rule 83.3, and the meaning of the judges' questions. The team has only posted Part 1, which features the argument of the labels' attorney Dan Cloherty; Part 2 will presumably cover the presentation by Nesson and Jonathan Sherman, counsel for the amicus Courtroom View Network.

One can certainly see the potential for this remix/slideshow format to be a very effective teaching tool, and a way to explain the proceedings to the world. Unfortunately, the First Circuit's opinion disallowing the district court webcast will not permit Tenenbaum's team -- or anyone else -- to similarly illuminate and explain the proceedings there.

UPDATE: here's Part 2 and Part 3.

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