Woman accused in music-sharing suit back in court
source: http://www.france24.com/en/20090614-web-user-accused-illegal-file-sharing-back-court-jammie-...
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In what will no doubt be a landmark case whatever the verdict, the retrial for copyright infringement of Jammie Thomas kicks off on Monday. Thomas, 32, from Brainerd, Minnesota, is the first US Web user to be tried in court for illegal downloading and file-sharing after she was sued by six major record companies. At least 30,000 alleged file sharers have been sued in the US so far, but they tend to settle out of court to avoid the cost of a trial.
In October 2007 a jury in Duluth ordered Thomas to pay $222,000 worth of statutory damages. But the judge later decided he had given the jury faulty instructions and declared a mistrial. After two postponements, Thomas is now back in court, this time in Minneapolis.
The judge had originally instructed the jury that making files available on the KaZaA file-sharing website was enough to constitute infringement of the record companies’ copyright. The jury duly found Thomas guilty of charges. But in September 2008, the judge ruled that he had given the jury erroneous instructions. In light of this he ordered a retrial.
In October 2007 a jury in Duluth ordered Thomas to pay $222,000 worth of statutory damages. But the judge later decided he had given the jury faulty instructions and declared a mistrial. After two postponements, Thomas is now back in court, this time in Minneapolis.
The judge had originally instructed the jury that making files available on the KaZaA file-sharing website was enough to constitute infringement of the record companies’ copyright. The jury duly found Thomas guilty of charges. But in September 2008, the judge ruled that he had given the jury erroneous instructions. In light of this he ordered a retrial.
