Just like any accused file-sharer, Jammie Thomas was offered to settle for a mere $3,000-5,000. Insisting she was innocent of the charges, she took her chances in court. In October of 2007, she was found liable for copyright infringement and was ordered to pay $220,000 dollars in damages.

Although the monetary figure was substantial, the real victory for the music industry was the legal endorsement of their "making available" theory. By merely having files in one's shared directory, intent of copyright infringement could be proven in court.

Luckily for Thomas, that verdict was thrown out. The Judge in the first case admitted that he erroneously instructed the jury to consider whether "making available" equaled copyright infringment. The music industry's first taste of a jury victory in a P2P case was dashed.

Jammie's second trial, which ended yesterday, did not end in her favor either. In fact, the case ended much worse, as the jury found she willfully engaged in copyright infringement, and awarded the Plaintiffs, $1.92 million dollars. Evidence in the case seemed to indicate that infringment took place on her computer, but exactly who did the infringing is unknown. The defense's strategy was frustrated several times when it tried to bring in evidence which undermined MediaSentry's credibility, and when it tried to bring in her CD collection which had many of the songs she was accused of infringing. This evidence was denied by the judge.

Collecting the $1.92 million dollars will be nearly impossible, as Jammie was quoted, "Good luck trying to get it from me... it's like squeezing blood from a turnip." But the music industry has what they want - a public victory. Both Thomas and her lawyer seem intent in continuing the fight, and a final resolution to this nearly four year battle may be far from over.

Date: 2009-06-19 Source: http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1861