RIAA appeals mistrial in file-sharing case
The RIAA is appealing a judge's decision to throw out the guilty verdict against Jammie Thomas, who was dinged $220,000 for sharing music online.
The Recording Industry Association of America is appealing a judge's decision last month to declare a mistrial in the case of Jammie Thomas, who was ordered to pay the recording industry $222,000 for allegedly sharing music online.
Thomas was charged in October with violating copyright law by making 24 songs available for others to download on the Kazaa network. In late September, though, U.S. District Judge Michael Davis threw out the verdict on the grounds that he originally misguided the jury by indicating that simply the act of making a copyrighted song available for sharing amounts to infringement.
The RIAA is requesting that Davis let its appeal go through before scheduling a retrial for Thomas.
"Although this court is not the only court to have questioned the making-available right, numerous others have concluded that making a copyrighted work available does constitute a distribution," the RIAA wrote in its request to stay the retrial.
Thomas is the only individual charged with copyright infringement by the RIAA who has taken her case to trial.