Judge Davis of the United States District Court lowers $1.92 million verdict against Jammie Thomas, the first person convicted of illegal file-sharing in the US, from $80,000 per song to $2,250 per song, saying “statutory damages must still bear some relation to actual damages.”
In an all too surprising verdict, Judge Michael J. Davis of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota today set aside the $1.92 million verdict against Jammie Thomas, the first music-downloading case to go to trial in the United States.
If you recall, back in June 2009, the jury awarded the recording industry $1.92 million in statutory damages as a punishment for using the KaZaA file-sharing program to download 24 songs which amounted to $80,000 per song.
Judge Davis has now ruled that that amount is completely unjustified and lowered damages to $2,250 per song – three times the statutory minimum for a total of $54,000.
“The need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 million verdict for stealing and illegally distributing 24 songs for the sole purpose of obtaining free music,” reads the ruling. “Moreover, although Plaintiffs were not required to prove their actual damages, statutory damages must still bear some relation to actual damages.”
He said he labored over the amount to avoid veering into ” realm of gross injustice,” trying to balance the Thomas’ misconduct with the RIAA’s need to deter piracy.
And he’s right. For $54,000 is still quite a bit of cash. The previous amount, $1.92 million, didn’t serve as a deterrent. It was so over the top it may as well have been $1.92 billion or trillion.
Nice to see justice finally being served for a change.
Stay tuned.
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- Jammie Thomas Judge Appoints Mediator to Help Settlement Talks
- Jammie Thomas Challenges “Arbitrary” $80,000 p/song Verdict
- RIAA Rejects Reduced File-Sharing Judgment
Hmmmm, then that would mean that I would owe in the hundreds of millions, if they were to catch me… Good luck with that federal dickheads.
How did this lady get caught and made the scape goat? There are probably millions of file sharers.
This ruling is much more reasonable, but still unacceptable. Not only is it highly unlikely that the damages amounted to $50 000, but the practice of file sharing itself is a social norm. The laws in place are supposed to reflect the will of society, and when the rules no longer fit with social values, it simply becomes a form of dictatorship. In some countries dictators take the form of military enforcement, or religious zealotry, in the Western world, its simply those with the largest capital that are the dictators. Your rights are bought and sold without you having a say, your rights are now a economic property to be sold off by the politicians who are supposed to represent you. The system has been broken, the checks and balances to protect society removed, and the general population is too distracted to care. In fact a large portion of the population has been rendered so witless, that they have even fallen for the marketing spin, believing that they are in fact fighting for their rights, when in reality they are fighting against them. Capitalism, if you let us we will sell your soul.
Well said Mountain_rage
It’s an OK decision by US standards (which are off the wall in cases like this to begin with)
In a broad sense, millions for 2 dozen free songs has its similarities to cases where drug smuggling means the death penalty (I believe that would be China that practiced such things in law as an example) It’s one thing to work within the boundaries of law, but when a punishment is grossly disproportionate to the “crime” as seen here, it’s next to impossible to win respect for the law in the first place. It’s things like this that have caused an entire political movement to spring up internationally.
Good to see the number reduced although its all around bullshit.
i am not the best at math but if Itunes sells a song at 1.00$ usd wouldn’t the court have to prove that each individual song had been downloaded at least 2,250 times to Justify the claimed loss?
Did you spell $1.92 “mullion” in purpose or spelling error?
…uh on purpose (?) ….fixed THX
5 billion, 5 million, 2 million, 50.oo0, 5000 i still wouldnt be able to pay they wouldnt c any money from me cant get blood out of a stone
it’s still utterly ridiculous….