Professor Charles Nesson claims the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is unconstitutional because it lets a private group, in this case the Recording Industry Association of America, carry out civil enforcement of a criminal law.

Nesson, the founder of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, also claims the recording industry has abused legal process by suing thousands of suspected copyright violators and using the threat of enormous fines to bully them into accepting smaller settlements.

So far, despite the RIAA suing more than 30,000 people suspected of pirating music, only one case has made it through the court system. Last year, the RIAA successfully sued Minnesota resident Jammie Thomas for copyright infringement. Although Thomas appealed the court’s decision, the RIAA is currently appealing Thomas’ appeal.

Nesson, who once defended Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg and consulted on a case filed against chemical companies that was dramatized in the movie, “A Civil Action,” said his goal is to “turn the courts away from allowing themselves to be used like a low-grade collection agency.”

Nesson entered the RIAA lawsuit controversy after a federal judge asked him to represent Boston University grad student Joel Tenenbaum. The RIAA accused Tenenbaum of downloading at least seven songs and making 816 songs available for distribution by way of the Kazaa file-sharing network in 2004. Tenenbaum offered to settle the case for $500, but the RIAA rejected the offer, saying it wanted $12,000 instead.

But even $12,000 is less than what the RIAA could seek in damages. The Digital Theft Deterrence Act sets damages of $750 to $30,000 for each infringement and as much as $150,000 for a willful infringement. If Tenenbaum is found guilty, not only of infringement, but of willful infringement, he could be looking at more than $1 million in fines.

The RIAA has said in court documents that its efforts to protect intellectual property by suing suspected music pirates is protected under the First Amendment.

The trade organization is also taking exception to Nesson’s challenging the law’s legality, saying Tenenbaum failed to notify the U.S. Attorney General that he wanted to contest the constitutionality of the law.

The RIAA also restated its policy regarding suing those suspected of pirating music online, saying it’s a fair response to the recording industry’s multibillion-dollar loses since Shawn Fanning unleashed the original Napster on an unsuspecting recording industry in 1999.

“What should be clear is that illegally downloading and distributing music comes with many risks and is not an anonymous activity,” said RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duffy.