The sound-bite was from RIAA's Mitch Glazier, summing up his thoughts about a closed-door Capitol Hill discussion between key members of the copyright community. The Friday talks focused on a section of pending legislation that critics say would unnecessarily ramp up statutory damages in infringement cases.

Glazier told me that opponents of the provision tried to turn what was supposed to be a narrow conversation "into a referendum on the copyright system in general." That didn’t sit well with Patry who called his statement "completely false." He said the comment was "a sad effort to denigrate what was a productive exchange of views among a diverse cross-section of interests."

Patry said the section's foes as well as its supporters "stayed on the high ground … focusing on the question of statutory damages and how to recompense copyright owners for their monetary injury." "No one attacked the system of copyright, and no one suggested that copyright owners should not receive every penny of their actual harm, nor that they shouldn't receive statutory damages at their election."

Read more of Patry's comments here.