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Federal jury assesses $1.92 million damages in music file-sharing case

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] A federal jury in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota found Thursday that a Minnesota woman had violated music copyrights and assessed damages at $80,000 per song for 24 songs, totaling $1.92 million. In a retrial, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was found to have willfully violated copyright law in sharing songs on the file-sharing program KaZaA, which has since become a legitimate music purveyor. Following the announcement of the verdict, Thomas-Rasset told the media that she was not going to worry about the judgment, saying that she is incapable of paying that amount as a mother of four. On Tuesday, Thomas-Rasset delivered testimony in the proceedings in which she maintained her innocence and claimed to have never heard of the file-sharing program before the case. Additionally, she admitted that the hard drive turned over to authorities was not the same as the one installed in her computer during the time she allegedly shared the songs in question, contrary to two previous depositions in which she said differently. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) spokeswoman Cara Duckworth maintained that the association is willing to settle the case. In December, the RIAA said that it would discontinue its controversial policy of suing suspected file-sharers and instead will seek cooperation with major Internet service providers to cut off access to repeat offenders. The recent proceedings against Thomas-Rasset were a retrial of a previous judgment against her, granted by a federal judge on the grounds that the court erred by instructing the jury that making the music available on the KaZaA network was enough to violate the Copyright Act and that the $222,000 in damages was excessive. In March, another woman being sued by RIAA sought class action status for a counterclaim against the RIAA, several recording companies, and data investigation company MediaSentry for allegedly using unscrupulous tactics as part of an RIAA anti-piracy campaign.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on June 19, 2009 (boomark / email).