Submission + - Minn Jury Awards $1.92 Mil to RIAA in Jammie Case (msn.com) 1
The jury found that Jammie Thomas-Rasset "committed willful violation" of the copyrights on 24 songs. The jury awarded the recording companies $1.92 million, or $80,000 per song.
It was a retrial for Thomas-Rasset, who was also found in 2007 to have illegally shared music files. The new trial was ordered after the judge in the case decided he had erred in jury instructions.
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The second outcome was worse for Thomas-Rasset. In the first trial, the jury awarded recording companies just $222,000.
An attorney for the recording industry, Tim Reynolds, said the "greater weight of the evidence" showed that Jammie Thomas-Rasset was responsible for the illegal file-sharing that took place on her computer. He asked the jury to hold her accountable to deter others from a practice he said has significantly harmed the people who bring music to everyone.
Defense attorney Joe Sibley said the music companies failed to prove allegations that Thomas-Rasset gave away songs by Gloria Estefan, Sheryl Crow, Green Day, Journey and others.
MSNBC : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31432024/ns/business-local_business/