Woman stung with $US2m fine in RIAA file-sharing trial
The only file-sharing case to go to trial in the US has just seen Jammie Thomas-Rasset fined $US1.92 million by a federal jury for infringing 24 songs.
Wired reports Ms Thomas-Rasset first went to trial two years ago when a different jury ordered her to pay $222,000 for the same songs, only for the judge to declare a mistrial.
Over 30,000 other people have been sued by the Recording Industry Association of America so far, with all of them choosing to settle – bar Ms Thomas-Rasset, who opted for a new trial instead.
Those 24 tracks will now cost Ms Rasset-Thomas $80,000 each, although she has stated to Ars Technica that she has no intention of paying the fine and intends to fight on.
Juries are able to award damages of up to $150,000 per track, although the average payment in the thousands of RIAA cases settled out of court was closer to $3,500.
The record labels have started to wind back their litigation campaign begun five years ago, and are now intensively lobbying governments and ISPs to disconnect file sharers.
However, the litigation arm of the record labels – the RIAA – will continue to prosecute the hundreds of cases already under way.
Here’s the $1.92 million playlist of Ms Thomas-Rasset:
• Guns N Roses "Welcome to the Jungle"; "November Rain"
• Vanessa Williams "Save the Best for Last"
• Janet Jackson "Let’s What Awhile"
• Gloria Estefan "Here We Are"; "Coming Out of the Heart"; "Rhythm is Gonna Get You"
• Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
• Journey "Faithfully"; "Don’t Stop Believing"
• Sara McLachlan "Possession"; "Building a Mystery"
• Aerosmith "Cryin’"
• Linkin Park "One Step Closer"
• Def Leppard "Pour Some Sugar on Me"
• Reba McEntire "One Honest Heart"
• Bryan Adams "Somebody"
• No Doubt "Bathwater"; "Hella Good"; "Different People"
• Sheryl Crow "Run Baby Run"
• Richard Marx "Now and Forever"
• Destiny’s Child "Bills, Bills, Bills"
• Green Day "Basket Case"
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Comments and questions3
My goodness, she should have pleaded insanity.
Anyone who thinks Reba McEntire singing "One Honest Heart" is music must be certifiable :-)
No jury on the planet would convict.
This is nothing short of an outrageous decision. Thankfully these kinds of vexatious litigations won't occur in Australia since we have something called proportionality. How can anyone justify 1.92 million for 24 songs that would have cost at 99c each on iTunes. Having studied American civil procedure, I must say there is a reason why American courts are filled with frivolous lawsuits.
Slapping her with a fine this large is laughable. It won't deter anyone. No one would believe she'd be able to pay it in the first place. And she will appeal in the second. If the feds really wanted to make a case that was a deterrent, they'd slap her with a more reasonable fine that would be upheld on appeal. Say $100 per song. They could enforce that and it might make people think. This fine is just a huge joke which most people won't take seriously.
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