Woman illegally downloads 24 songs, fined to tune of $1.9 million

[Fallen Angel]

(CNN) -- A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each -- a total of $1.9 million -- for 24 songs.
Illegal downloads of musical files will cost a Minnesota woman $1.9 million, a jury has decided.

Illegal downloads of musical files will cost a Minnesota woman $1.9 million, a jury has decided.

Jammie Thomas-Rasset's case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said.

Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at fine, noting that the price tag on the songs she downloaded was 99 cents.

She plans to appeal, he said.

Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said the RIIA was "pleased that the jury agreed with the evidence and found the defendant liable."

"We appreciate the jury's service and that they take this as seriously as we do," she said.

Thomas-Rasset downloaded work by artists such as No Doubt, Linkin Park, Gloria Estefan and Sheryl Crow.


This was the second trial for Thomas-Rasset. The judge ordered a retrial in 2007 after there was an error in the wording of jury instructions.

The fines jumped considerably from the first trial, which granted just $220,000 to the recording companies.

Thomas-Rasset is married with four children and works for an Indian tribe in Minnesota.

[Ezz1r]

TY 4 the update FA ...Ridiculus what say U?


E

[black widow]

Yea but the record companies wanted to set an example.... they did however say they would settle and their earlier settlement rate may still be on the table which was $3000-5000 per song.... Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[fernvick]

Does anyone know where did she download or was it single songs or albums?

[black widow]

Kaaza before they made a deal with recording labels to go legit.

[SatChef]

Good thing it was just for cheap azz songs and not PPV's...

[dirtbag]

3 to 5 grand per song is still too high
if you ask me, I wouldn't pay 3 to 5 cents
for any of them....

[Boss302]

Id bet you can buy those d/ls for .99 cents each, very sad indeed, that was an older case, went to trial and this was her appeal, the recording industy says they aren't making enough $ , but in the past they have had numerous format changes, wonder how many albums some people have bought on 8-track, and cassette, LP , and then on CD or mini disc :sad:

[snakefistgungfu]

How could a Jury in there right mind award them that much. I swear I mean the stupid law suits pay more then when some doc kills someone. Music copy rights are just stupid I mean no other copyright last a life time except movie and music.

[S1ay3r]

The orignal trial she was ordered to pay 220,000 that judge found it un reasonable. The new trial netted 1.9 million.

24 songs aern't worth that, most of the songs she downloaded probably sucked! I Imagine EFF is going to raise some more noise on this. RIAA can kiss my a$$. Your so called business model has been broken for over 8 years, their not doing a thing to fix it and blame it all on illegal downloading.

I bet some family members or realitives of these dirtbags have illegally download songs movies and more. No CD is worth even $10. Artisits get paid regardless of how much a album sells. If the artists releases 14 tracks of garbage and one hit of that CD why hold consumers liable for their artist crappy work.

Artists make most of their money touring and marketable products, record companies are trying to recoup above and beyond. There is more to music than Itunes, which i think personally Sucks!

Labels are all about profits nothing more, you sign em you deal with your crap artists signed to your labels, that make no R.O.I.

Suing a consumer for ridicilious amounts of money is the wrong way to tackle their problem.

[dirtbag]

I agree about the copyright thing, and besides
look how much money these people make,
I guess some of these rock stars kids
will starve if she doesn't pay these fines,
being a musician myself, I think the
music industry has gone to heck
in a handbasket..............................:cool:

[40Jays]

Id bet you can buy those d/ls for .99 cents each, very sad indeed, that was an older case, went to trial and this was her appeal, the recording industy says they aren't making enough $ , but in the past they have had numerous format changes, wonder how many albums some people have bought on 8-track, and cassette, LP , and then on CD or mini disc :sad:

yeah that's what it said 99 cents each. So thats BS.
We should ne more concerned with the ISP she is with, the routing and the agency who found it.

[secondtime]

copyright is so people will not copy an original and make money from it.

when stores play music through their speakers they have to pay a license yearly for the ( luxury)

now in the future when you guys tune your ipod too loud and the people next to you can hear your songs , lookout they are going to go after you with a damn law suit.:sad: