The Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) get-tough policy on illegal sharing of music got its test in court and the result was a judgment of $222,000 for music companies against a 30-year-old mother of two. Questions remain, however, as to whether the industry's approach and this first judicial victory will do anything to stem illegal distribution of music and if the publicity surrounding the case will further damage the record companies' reputation with consumers.
In the copyright infringement case, Capitol Records Inc. v. Jammie Thomas, the record companies' charged Ms. Thomas, an environmental coordinator with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, with illegally distributing songs through her account on the Kazaa file-sharing site.
Ms. Thomas allowed that she had copied music from CDs she owned onto a computer but did not download the songs
The RIAA said in a statement that it would pursue legal action other cases. "When the evidence is clear, we will continue to bring legal actions against those individuals who have broken the law. This program is important to securing a level playing field for legal online music services."
Charles Mudd, a lawyer out of Chicago, told Computerworld, "The jury verdict will add credence to and bolster the RIAA campaign of pursuing file-sharers. I believe the monetary award has some significant deficiencies, but nonetheless, the jury verdict will support the RIAA in its continuing effort to pursue those it believes have illegally stolen copyrighted music."
Ray Beckerman, a lawyer with Vandenberg & Feliu in New York, expects the case to be overturned on appeal. "Obviously, the verdict is disproportionate in amount," he told Computerworld. "When the damage you have suffered is $23.76 of song files that were infringed and you have a verdict of $222,000, that is about a 10,000-to-1 ratio."
Separately, Mr. Beckerman told Bloomberg News, "They'll (RIAA) feel, 'Oh we got this great thing that we can go around and brag about it and scare people. That's what they live for, scaring people. It's all based on extortion."
Discussion Questions: What will the Capitol Records Inc. v. Jammie Thomas verdict mean for the illegal downloading of copyrighted music? How will consumers react to the music companies strong pursuit of individuals accused of illegally downloading and/or sharing copyrighted material?