Los Angeles – The Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) has rejected a judge’s order reducing the damages convicted file-swapper
Jammie Thomas-Rasset from $1.92 million to $54,000, meaning that the Minnesota
woman will now face a third trial on the issue of damages, Ars Technica
reported.
In her first trial, a jury found Thomas-Rasset guilty and ordered her
to pay $222,000 in copyright infringement damages to the major record labels.
However, the judge later said he had erred in jury instructions, and ordered a
new trial.
The jury in the second trial also found Thomas-Rasset guilty, but
this time awarded $1.92 million in damages.
Last month, the judge from the
second trial sided with Thomas-Rasset’s attorneys and reduced that amount to
$54,000.
That figure equates to $2,250 for each song that Thomas-Rasset was
found guilty of sharing — triple the statutory minimum of $750, but far less
than the $150,000 maximum.
The RIAA then offered Thomas-Rasset an even lower
settlement, provided she ask the judge to vacate his ruling that lowered the
damages; she refused the offer.
"Plaintiffs find it impossible to accept a
remittitur that could be read to set a new standard for statutory damages — essentially
capping those damages at three times the minimum statutory amount of $750,"
the RIAA wrote to Judge Michael Davis.
"This far-reaching determination is
contrary to the law and creates a statutory scheme that Congress did not intend
or enact."
Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ubxmq
(Ars Technica)
http://snipurl.com/u7jj4
(DMW previous coverage)
