Woman Hit With $1.5 Million Fine for Downloading 24 Songs Illegally

Date: 05-11-2010 4:20 pm (14 years ago) | Author: sunny jacob
- at 5-11-2010 04:20 PM (14 years ago)
(m)
What's the value of a song? Jammie Thomas-Rasset has spent the last few years in court debating that question. The Minnesota mother of four is being penalized for illegally downloading and sharing 24 songs on the peer-to-peer file-sharing network Kazaa in 2006, but how much she owes the record labels has been in question. The jury in her third trial has just ruled that Thomas-Rasset should pay Capitol Records $1.5 million, CNET reports, which breaks down to $62,500 per song. It's a heavy penalty considering the 24 tunes would only cost approximately $24 on iTunes, which was Thomas-Rasset' argument, too.
 
Thanks to Thomas-Rasset's colorful case, she has become the public face of the record industry's battle with illegal downloaders. In her first trial, in 2007, the jury demanded she pay $222,000 for violating the copyright on more than 1,700 songs by Green Day, Aerosmith and Richard Marx, to name a few. (Marx said he was "ashamed" to be associated with the "farcical" prosecution of an illegal downloader.) Thomas-Rasset maintained she wasn't the computer user who did the file sharing, and her legal team cited an error in jury instruction to secure a second trial in 2009 that ended with a much harsher result: an astronomical fine of $1.92 million. However, earlier this year a U.S. District Court judge found the $1.92 million penalty against Thomas-Rasset to be "monstrous and shocking" and "gross injustice" before lowering it to $54,000, or $2,250 a song. Thomas-Rasset and her legal team decided to appeal that decision, too.

Still, Thomas-Rasset and her legal team are already making plans to appeal, setting the stage for a fourth trial. "The fight continues," promised Thomas-Rasset's lawyer Kiwi Camara. Even if Thomas-Rasset were to win the next trial, the RIAA would likely appeal that decision to ensure that copyright infringement without penalization won't happen. This story has the potential to drag on well into the next decade -- when for $1.5 million, all of Thomas-Rasset's four kids could finish law school and take up the fight on her behalf.

Posted: at 5-11-2010 04:20 PM (14 years ago) | Gistmaniac
- bafyguy at 5-11-2010 04:25 PM (14 years ago)
(m)
If she illegally downloaded, then she should pay for the songs. However, paying thousands of dollars is absurd. If I were a judge, I would have thrown it out as frivolous. 24 songs x $1 a song = $24. Plus $100 in filing fees = $124. Case closed.
Posted: at 5-11-2010 04:25 PM (14 years ago) | Gistmaniac
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- Toks-E at 14-10-2012 04:38 AM (12 years ago)
(m)
hahahahahahaha, laff wan kill me here. 1.5 million dollars, where is she goin to get that money from
Posted: at 14-10-2012 04:38 AM (12 years ago) | Addicted Hero
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