File-Sharer Says “No” to RIAA’s $25k Offer To Settle
Just days after a judge reduced the $1.92m damages bill handed down to Jammie Thomas to a slightly more sensible $54,000, her legal team have turned down an offer to settle for $25,000.
Last year Jammie Thomas lost her retrial against the RIAA and was ordered to pay $1.92 million in damages for sharing 24 songs using Kazaa.
Outrage at the huge damages eventually resulted in Judge Davis lowering the damages last week to $54,000.
To try and bring the whole sorry episode to an end, yesterday the RIAA made an offer to Thomas to settle the case for $25,000, if she agreed to ask the judge to “vacate” last week’s decision, which means removing it from the record.
Her lawyers immediately rejected the offer, indicating they would only accept a settlement which means Thomas has to pay nothing.
The RIAA said that this rejection means that they will now challenge the judge’s decision last week to lower the $1.92m damages.
Will this ever come to an end? What a complete waste of money.
The RIAA is just not feeling it lately.
It won’t end as long as they think they can get money from the situation.
That’s awesome! Sounds like the RIAA is really worried about this setting precedent. If the damages continue to drop like this, then suing file sharers won’t be profitable or effective anymore. The Tenenbaum decision should be interesting as well.
“If the damages continue to drop like this, then suing file sharers won’t be profitable or effective anymore.”
Was it ever either?
It has always been just “media terrorism” and it completely fails just as other forms of terrorism
it’s actually pretty smart on the part of defendant’s lawyers: challenging the heart of the matter re constitutionality of the awarded damages. which is exactly why the riaa wants this to go away.
will it work? can’t say not knowin’ but it’s a good for all of us strategy.
You’re not half smart, Robin.. You DO have a head..
Excellent and elementary deduction.. :-)
As much as I loathe the RIAA, I think Jammie and her legal team should have just accepted their offer.
The RIAA doesn’t care about the size of the award. They are concerned with establishing the precedent that sharing/downloading copyrighted music constitutes infringement.
I agree with the judge’s decision to reduce the award, but to reduce an award that was decided by a jury is unusual. If this goes to appeal, it may be overturned by an appellate court and Jammie will be on the hook for the original award.
The mafiaa just doesn’t want to stop being themselves, and they want the news deleted from record. Sounds like how they want everything else these days too.
If I were in his shoes, I’d have conflicting viewpoints…
1. 25k is much better. MUCH better than the 2nd 1.92m verdict. And is not bad from the 54k that Davis reduced it down to.
2. Everything that has been done so far with regard to legal ground would be reversed, meaning that Davis’s interpretation of law with at least a more sensible manner would be off the record.
We know the guy’s not innocent under current copyright law. We also know that the amount of money paid for music is a huge scam. It’s a matter of trying to find a balance that makes sense.
it is a cover up,
RIAA has spent atleast 2 mil combined on the thomas-rasett \ tenenbaum cases.. They must be losing money at this point..
Thomas-Rasett should pay no more then double the cost of an online track.. So approx 24 * $2 = $50… After which she pays her music is officially licensed..
I would pay no more than this..
The longer the RIAA drags this on the more they hurt their own image and all the artists they apparently represent..
Maybe that’s what she’s thinking. They want a fight, let us give them a fight where they’ll spend much more than any compensation will ever pay both financially and worse, on their image…
I’d do the same. S54k for tracks that’d cost $24 at most is no more theft than the supposed theft of downloading 24 songs. I’m assuming she never buys anything otherwise she could use the fact she actually buys as her defense.
MAFIAA should stop turning blind eyes and deaf ears to the fact that piracy won’t stop but they can profit despite it. Suing and ruining people is not a nice way to start.