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Landmark P2P case might get retrial

by on16 May 2008

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Judge reconsiders


A landmark
P2P case may go to retrial because the Judge has found an earlier ruling that could have made the entire case null and void.

Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay $222,000 in the United States' first music download trial. Federal District Court Judge Michael Davis told jurors that making sound recordings available without permission violates record company copyrights "regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown." However, he now thinks he made a mistake having found a 1993 ruling from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals which said that infringement requires "an actual dissemination of either copies or phonorecords."

Basically, it would have to mean that the record companies would have to prove that downloading occurred. The music industry says that if its investigators were able to download that should be enough for a jury.
Last modified on 16 May 2008
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