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Judge Tosses Out RIAA's First File-Sharing Conviction, Thomas Granted New Trial!

By soulxtc

US District Judge Michael Davis formally agrees that "making available" theory is flawed, also implores Congress to prevent excessive damage awards like the $222,000 She was ordered to pay for a measly 24 songs. There's the smell of blood in the water over at RIAA headquarters this morning with word that their legal team suffered a dramatic setback today, one that dramatically raises the standards for proving copyright infringement. In the case of Jammie Thomas, the first person ever to be convicted of illegal file-sharing, US District Judge Michael Davis said he erred in instructing the jury that simply making music available in KaZaA's "shared folder" was the same as copyright infringement, and that his error "substantially prejudiced" her rights. He also implored Congress to reform copyright law to prevent similarly "oppressive" awards in music file-sharing cases. "The Court does not condone Thomas' actions, but it would be a farce to say that a single mother's acts of using Kazaa are the equivalent, for example, to the acts of global financial firms illegally infringing on copyrights in order to profit in the securities market," Judge Davis wrote in his opinion.

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on September 25, 2008 (boomark / email).