Record Labels Win Anti-Piracy Verdict
In a huge win for the recording industry, a federal jury in Minnesota decided that a woman who illegally downloaded music owes a whopping $222,000 for copyright infringement.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Thursday’s victory could embolden the industry to target consumers in its four-year battle against rampant Internet piracy. This was the fist such case of some 26,000 to come to trial. Some 10,000 have already settled.
Jamie Thomas, an Indian reservation employee, was found to have offered 1,700 songs to swap with others using the online service Kazaa. Thomas had testified she didn’t use the service. But jurors apparently didn’t believe her, deciding that her conduct was willful.
The verdict awards damages of $9,250 for each of the 24 songs at issue in the case.
