Wow, a woman named Jammie Thomas-Rasset has been ordered in a re-trial to fork over $1.9 million dollars to four major record labels after making 24 songs illegally available for download on the website KaZaA back in 2005!!! According to courtroom reporters:
Spokesperson Cara Duckworth of the RIAA, who attended the trial, told reporters afterwards, “Since day one we have been willing to settle this case… and we remain willing to do so.” The industry appears to be doing everything it can not to appear vindictive in these cases, though Duckworth refused to discuss any details of what a proposed settlement might look like.
The jury found Thomas-Rasset’s conduct to be willful, which means that statutory damages under the Copyright Act can range from $750 per infringement up to $150,000. In his closing statement, defense lawyer Joe Sibley made clear that even the minimum award would run $18,000 (24 songs x $750 = $18,000), an amount that he said was unfair and crippling to Thomas-Rasset. The jury decided that the per-song penalty would be $80,000, for a total damage award of $1.92 million, over $1.7 million more than the award in her first trial.
Upon hearing the verdict Jammie had this to say, “Good luck trying to get it from me… it’s like squeezing blood from a turnip.”
