Judge drastically lowers damages Jammie Thomas

An American judge has surprised friend and foe by drastically slashing the amount of 1,92 million dollars that Jammie Thomas, the first to be convicted for file-sharing, needs to pay in damages. The judge said that “statutory damages must still bear some relation to actual damages” and lowered the amount to 54.000 dollars.

In June 2009, Jammie Thomas was convicted to paying 1,92 million dollars for downloading and distributing 24 songs using Kazaa. That amounts to damages of 80.000 dollars per song. The music industry, represented by the RIAA, pleaded for high damages as they would create deterring effect. The jury followed this line of arguments and convicted Thomas to paying exceedingly high damages in order to deter other file sharers.

Thomas appealed, and this judge ruled differently. “The need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 million verdict for stealing and illegally distributing 24 songs for the sole purpose of obtaining free music,” wrote the judge (thanks go to zeropaid.com for uploading the ruling). “Moreover, although Plaintiffs were not required to prove their actual damages, statutory damages must still bear some relation to actual damages.” 

The judge mentioned having tried to balance Thomas’ misconduct with the RIAA’s need for deterring pirates in a way that “does not veer into the realm of gross injustice”. This court’s idea of balance is undoubtedly different from the previous court, as it lowered the damages to 2250 dollars per song, equalling 54.000 dollars in total.

25-01-2010