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: minnesota woman
Last September, Minnesota woman Jammie Thomas was convicted of sharing 24 unauthorized tracks via P2P and was told to pay the RIAA $220,000 in damages. Thomas was granted a retrial however, and the case went to verdict again in June.
Thomas was found to have “committed willful violation” of the copyrights on all 24 songs and the jury awarded the RIAA and the media companies $1.92 million USD, equivalent to $80,000 for each song.
Today, the U.S. Department of Justice has called the gigantic fine constitutional, and acceptable.
The legal brief, via Cnet, says: “Congress took into account the need to deter the millions of users of new media from infringing copyrights in an environment where many violators believe that they will go unnoticed.”
Prosecutors, during the case, made sure to note that current intellectual property laws allow copyright holders to sue for up to $150,000 USD per work “stolen.”
Result for: minnesota woman
Last September, Minnesota woman Jammie Thomas was convicted of sharing 24 unauthorized tracks via P2P and was told to pay the RIAA $220,000 in damages. Thomas was granted a retrial however, which has gone to verdict today.
Thomas was found to have “committed willful violation” of the copyrights on the 24 songs and the jury has this time awarded the RIAA and the media companies $1.92 million USD, equivalent to $80,000 for each song.
The defendant had been given a retrial because a judge in the original case admitted to making an error in jury instructions.
The new outcome is substantially worse for Thomas, as the penalty now stands $1.92 million compared to the original $220,000 fine.
