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$2M File-Sharing Damage Drastically Reduced

In a case that has been reported in these pages since 2007, a Brainerd, MN, woman who was found guilty ' twice ' of illegally downloading 24 songs has seen the amount of damages reduced. The first jury, in Oct. 2007, found Jammie Thomas (now Jammie Thomas-Rassert) guilty and awarded damages to the Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”) of $222,000. After winning herself a new trial, a jury increased the award last year ' dramatically, to the tune to $1.92 million. On appeal, it seems that a federal judge has finally become realistic about the amount of damages.

Judge Michael Davis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota reduced the amount on Jan. 22, 2009 to $54,000, the statutory minimum of $2,250 for each infringement. In his ruling, Judge Davis indicated he would have liked to reduce the award further and was not happy with the previous jury that brought the figure up to such an elevated number: “This reduced award is significant and harsh. It is a higher award than the court might have chosen to impose in its sole discretion. It was the jury's province to determine the award of statutory damages and this [c]ourt has merely reduced that award to the maximum amount that is no longer monstrous and shocking.”

On Jan. 27, the RIAA offered to settle the case for $25,000 if Thomas-Rassert agrees to ask Judge Davis to vacate his decision, CNET reported. The amount, if paid, would go to a musician's charity. Apparently, the Association is satisfied with the deterrent effect the decision has made and is ready to move on, but Thomas-Rassert's attorneys might not be. Kiwi Camara, of Houston-based Camara & Sibley, wrote on Ben Scheffner's Copyrights & Campaigns blog (www.copyrightsandcampaigns.blogspot.com) that the defense “challenged statutory damages as unconstitutional all the way to the miminum,” and they still intend to appeal on that ground.

$2M File-Sharing Damage Drastically Reduced

In a case that has been reported in these pages since 2007, a Brainerd, MN, woman who was found guilty ' twice ' of illegally downloading 24 songs has seen the amount of damages reduced. The first jury, in Oct. 2007, found Jammie Thomas (now Jammie Thomas-Rassert) guilty and awarded damages to the Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”) of $222,000. After winning herself a new trial, a jury increased the award last year ' dramatically, to the tune to $1.92 million. On appeal, it seems that a federal judge has finally become realistic about the amount of damages.

Judge Michael Davis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota reduced the amount on Jan. 22, 2009 to $54,000, the statutory minimum of $2,250 for each infringement. In his ruling, Judge Davis indicated he would have liked to reduce the award further and was not happy with the previous jury that brought the figure up to such an elevated number: “This reduced award is significant and harsh. It is a higher award than the court might have chosen to impose in its sole discretion. It was the jury's province to determine the award of statutory damages and this [c]ourt has merely reduced that award to the maximum amount that is no longer monstrous and shocking.”

On Jan. 27, the RIAA offered to settle the case for $25,000 if Thomas-Rassert agrees to ask Judge Davis to vacate his decision, CNET reported. The amount, if paid, would go to a musician's charity. Apparently, the Association is satisfied with the deterrent effect the decision has made and is ready to move on, but Thomas-Rassert's attorneys might not be. Kiwi Camara, of Houston-based Camara & Sibley, wrote on Ben Scheffner's Copyrights & Campaigns blog (www.copyrightsandcampaigns.blogspot.com) that the defense “challenged statutory damages as unconstitutional all the way to the miminum,” and they still intend to appeal on that ground.