The legal system isn’t like the TV — the moment in the Kazaa case where the global entertainment…
Enough time has passed now.
Enough time has passed now.
In 2005, I found myself on the witness stand of the Australian Federal Court, defending myself against the global entertainment industry.
I was CTO of the biggest file-sharing application at the time called Kazaa. Kazaa was being accused of encouraging its users to infringe copyright. I was personally accused of encouraging the company to encourage its users to infringe copyright. Ugh.
There is no opportunity to speak your truth in court
On the TV, there are moments in a courtroom drama where the witness can speak their truth. The hero gets to give a speech (often written by Aaron Sorkin) which talks of how they got there.
I spent 2 days on the stand and never had this opportunity. It does not appear to be a thing in a real court.
Questions are more like: “On the 25 October 2003, there was a meeting between you and person X, correct?” Expanding a sentence beyond “Yes” or “No” is quickly intercepted.
My first day was brutal. Ring binder after ring binder of old emails and documents were rolled out. “Please turn to tab 9”. And so the day went.
What are they after? I couldn’t see a pattern or direction. I answered the questions.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“I’m sorry I don’t recall.”
“Yes that’s correct.”
At the end of the first 8 hours of questioning I had no idea where I was in my defence and sat there quietly to be whisked off to my hotel room. Once on the stand, communicating with others is not permitted.
I could see some theatre unfolding in front of me.
“Tomorrow we are going to get him”
I tuned into the banter between the entertainment industry legal team. They were clearly staging a short drama just for me. They seemed delighted with each other. I only heard one clear sentence.
“Tomorrow we are going to get him”
The second day proceeded like the first. As I stumbled towards the end I could feel the posturing shift towards a conclusion but I had no idea where they were going. I felt like they had nothing up to this point.
Here’s what happened next.
“Please turn to tab 57”
The emotional build to this point was staged and I knew that this was the moment they believed to be my downfall.
I was pretty frightened as I turned the pages to discover what lay behind tab 57.
I opened the tab. As I read and recalled the email in front of me I felt elated.
There is nothing here.
“Mr Morle, can you describe the document at tab 57.”
“This is a fun challenge that I gave my team at a company offsite”
It was nothing to do with activity of the business. I’m done. I’m clear.
“And did the team do what you asked?”
“Yes they did”
And with that, they got me.
They just needed to prove that the team did what I asked to prove that I was able to encourage the company, to encourage its users to infringe copyright.
I lost.
It is not like the TV.
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