Since 2003, the RIAA has either sued or threatened to sue more than 20,000 people. Most of the people (liable or not) settled with them to the tune of $3,000-$5,000, while others who have been wrongfully accused and illegally harassed have been prodding the RIAA just to get their legal fees paid back.
Unfortunately, today the RIAA won its first case, as it was one of the few to actually make it this far without a settlement or a case being dropped.
Duluth, Minnesota — After just four hours of deliberation and two days of testimony, a jury found that Jammie Thomas was liable for infringing the record labels' copyrights on all 24 the 24 recordings at issue in the case of Capitol Records v. Jammie Thomas. The jury awarded $9,250 in statutory damages per song, after finding that the infringement was "willful," out of a possible total of $150,000 per song. The grand total? $222,000 in damages.
Now, while the RIAA's legal methods are often sloppy, in this case, I can see why the jury ruled in favor of them:
Under cross-examination by her attorney, Thomas explained the date discrepancies. She originally had said that she bought the PC from Best Buy in 2003 and that the hard drive was replaced in January or February of 2004. After her forensic expert inspected the hard drive and found that it wasn't manufactured until January 2005, she then said that she bought the PC in 2004 and that the hard drive was replaced in March 2005. "I was a year off on everything in my deposition," she said. He also said that the "jury could do the math" on whether it was possible for her to rip 2,000 or so tracks over a two-day period given the demonstration earlier in the day.
Unfortunately, while she broke the law, who in their right mind would award $9,000 per song to the R-I-double-A? These people are right up there with Blackwater when it comes to SLAPP suits and corporate thuggery.
This case is all the more reason for why the DMCA needs to be repealed. Also, is anyone interested in primarying pro-RIAA Dems? Howard Berman could sure use a primary challenger at the least.