$222K Verdict in Notorious File-Sharing Case Reinstated After Three Trials

September 17, 2012 by
Filed under: Announcements & Events, File-Sharing Programs, Networks & Services, Legal P2P News & Issues 

Last year RIAA appealed the fine reduction in Jammie Thomas file-sharing case. In the recent unfolding of the scandalous trial a federal appeals court ordered ‘file-sharing mom’ to pay damages to the recording industry of $222,000 for downloading and sharing 24 tracks on file-sharing service Kazaa that has for some time now become non-operational.

The main aspect here, however, is the fact the appeals court supported the RIAA’s stand according to which judges are in no way empowered to reduce a jury’s verdict in a copyright case.

When it came to making a decision also with respect to RIAA having to prove “actual distribution” of copyrighted content in addition to just making them available on a filesharing websites, the appeals court let that one unresolved.

This ruling may very well mean the end to three RIAA trials against Jammie Thomas unless, of course there’s another appeal. The defendant can be credited with the courage to be the first individual to take the matter to court instead of settling with RIAA lawyers for a few thousand dollars.

Joel Tenenbaum is known for being the other file-sharer to refuse the RIAA’s settlement offer and challenge them in court. Back in May, the Supreme Court upheld the award of $675,000 against the Massachusetts college student for sharing 30 songs given by a Boston federal jury.

The case which seemed to be everlasting dating back to 2006 went through many turns and had three different verdicts. In 2011 a jury awarded the RIAA $1.5 million, a sum which later got cut back to $54,000 when a judge found the initial fine to be appalling. In last week’s decision RIAA got favored again when the court restored the $222,000 verdict from the first case.

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