Jury Rules for RIAA in Downloading Case

A jury has ruled that a Minnesota woman who illegally downloaded and distributed 24 songs must pay $1.92 million in damages. Jammie Thomas-Rasset was ordered to pay $80,000 per song to the copyright owners and to members of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). A spokeswoman for the RIAA said Thomas-Rasset had originally been offered the chance to settle for between $3000-$5000, a figure consistent with other settlement offers. The RIAA says it remains willing to settle the case. For more information, click here.

In recent months various components of the music industry have been exploring alternatives such as "allowing" illegal file-sharing but trying to extract royalties from Internet Service Providers. This approach is being either considered or used in other jurisdictions, for example the Isle of Man.