Jammie Thomas-Rasset must be kicking herself today.
Thomas-Rasset, the American woman who has been fighting the RIAA in court for the last four years over 24 unauthorized songs she downloaded and shared online, has lost again in court, with a jury finding her liable for $1.5 million in copyright infringement damages.
That equals out to $62,500 per song she shared.
The RIAA was ecstatic with the decision (via Cnet): “We are again thankful to the jury for its service in this matter and that they recognized the severity of the defendant’s misconduct. Now with three jury decisions behind us along with a clear affirmation of Ms. Thomas-Rasset’s willful liability, it is our hope that she finally accepts responsibility for her actions.”
In 2007, Thomas-Rasset was found liable for $1.92 million in damages, but a retrial saw the fine dropped to $220,000.
Earlier this year, however, a Federal judge found the fine to be “shocking” and reduced it to just $54,000. The RIAA told Thomas-Rasset that they would accept $25,000, if she would agree to ask the judge to remove the decision from the record. She did not accept the terms of the deal.
Lawyers for the Minnesota woman have vowed another appeal.
Result for: federal judge
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has announced, jointly with the Congressional members of the International Anti-Piracy Caucus (IAPC) the first ever Notorious Illegal Sites list, calling out the six most “notorious” sites used for unauthorized downloads of music, movies and other copyrighted works.
Additionally, the groups named Russia, Mexico, China, Canada and Spain as the “Top Priority Countries” for lax anti-piracy efforts.
The sites to make the list are: China’s Baidu, Canada’s IsoHunt, Ukraine’s mp3fiesta, Germany’s RapidShare, Luxembourg’s RMX4U.com and Sweden’s The Pirate Bay.
The groups say these sites and their services provide little other uses than an exchange of unauthorized copyrighted works.
“The release of this report casts a damning spotlight once again on several nations with lax copyright protections and websites that brazenly traffic in copyright theft. I’m particularly struck by the IAPC decision to identify significant global websites that facilitate massive theft; theft that destroys jobs and cuts short the dreams of creators who find it more difficult to attract the capital they need to build their careers. Just last week, five years after the 9-0 Supreme Court landmark decision against Grokster, we saw a federal judge rule against the most significant theft machine in this country – LimeWire. While it took some time for the judicial process to work, we did see that in a nation of laws, those who set up elegant schemes to profit from theft will be stopped. There is basic accountability, although much work needs to be done to achieve a fully accountable Internet space,” says Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO, RIAA.
Result for: federal judge
A federal judge has officially placed graduate student Joel Tenenbaum on the line for $675,000 USD, the fine he was given by a jury after being found guilty of sharing 30 unauthorized songs via P2P networks.
Judge Nancy Gertner signed off on the damages, meaning Universal gets $292,500, Warner gets $225,000, Sony BMG gets $112,500 and Arista gets $45,000.
Despite signing off on the giant fine, Judge Gertner once against expressed concern over the “astronomical penalties” available to copyright holders, and noted that Tenenbaum missed out on an opportunity to shape the future of fair use laws.
“As it made clear previously, the Court was prepared to consider a more expansive fair use argument than other courts have credited—perhaps one supported by facts specific to this individual and this unique period of rapid technological change. For example, file sharing for the purposes of sampling music prior to purchase or space-shifting to store purchased music more efficiently might offer a compelling case for fair use. Likewise, a defendant who used the new file-sharing networks in the technological interregnum before digital media could be purchased legally, but who later shifted to paid outlets, might also be able to rely on the defense,” says Gertner.
Tenenbaum has said he will declare bankruptcy leaving the record labels with nothing if the fine is ruled constitutional on January 5th.
