the plaintiffs. During a jury trial in the Massachusetts District Court, Tenenbaum admitted liability for infringing the plaintiffs' copyright for 30 songs he downloaded and distributed via file-sharing software. The judge issued a directed verdict for the issue of liability, and the jury determined the infringement was "willful" and assessed statutory damages totaling $675,000. Tenenbaum then filed a motion claiming the damage award was unconstitutional, and requested either a new trial or a reduction of the damages by remittitur. The Court granted the retrial request, in part, by considering the constitutionality and "punitive" nature of the damage award, weighing it against the standards established by the Supreme Court in the cases BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore (referenced as BMW or Gore, and favored by the defendant) and in St. Louis, I.M. & S. Ry. Co. v. Williams (referenced as Williams, and favored by the plaintiffs and the U.S. Government). Citing these standards and other case law relating to statutory and punitive damages, the Court ordered the judgment in the case be amended to reduce the damage award by 90%, to $67,500. Remittitur would allow the plaintiffs to reject the remitted award and opt for a retrial, which they had indicated they would do, so the Court explicitly chose to reduce the award on constitutional grounds, because a retrial would put the Court in the position of confronting the constitutional issues that remittitur was intended to avoid. The plaintiffs and defendant collectively brought suit in the First District Court of Appeals to argue several matters: statutory damages and injunctive relief under the Copyright Act, constitutionality of the damages reduction matters of fair use a district court's ability to invoke constitutionality. Facts Appearing before Chief Judge Lynch, and Circuit Judges Torruella and Thompson, the facts of the case are as follows: The Massachusetts District Court entered judgement against Tenenbaum that he was liable for willful violation of the Copyright Act and summarily awarded Sony statutory damages of $22,500 for each infringed song. This reward is within the $750 to $150,000 per infringement that Congress established for willful infringement. Tenenbaum then motioned for a new trial or remittitur. The district court skipped over the issue of the remittitur and instead reached a constitutional issue. Reasoning that the $675,000 fine is excessive and thus in violation of Tenenbaum's due process rights Both parties then cross-appealed. Tenenbaum's argument Joel Tenenbaum challenges the District