A Minnesota woman accused of distributing music via the Kazaa file-sharing site has been fined $US222,000 ($A212,000) in the first music copyright infringement case to reach a jury.
After being found guilty in November 2007 of willful copyright infringement for sharing 24 tunes on the P2P network, Jammie Thomas-Rasset was assessed damages at $US222,000.
Following five years of appeals through lower courts, a jury of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of plaintiffs Capitol Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Arista Records, Interscope Records, Warner Bros. Records and UMG Recordings – which originally brought suit.
The mother of four was accused of swapping out her hard drive when forensic investigators hired by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) first approached her in 2005.
She initially denied knowing anything about Kazaa, but the fact that while in college she'd authored a case study on the legality of Napster – another file-sharing site – hurt her case.
After she rejected a $US4500 ($A4305) settlement offer, the case wound its way through the courts in appeal, with the fine to be levied at one point being cited as high as $US9.25 million, a figure based on the RIAA's initial claim that she should pay $US9250 ($A8849) for each of the 1700 songs she was eventually accused of sharing.
As the case dragged on, various settlements were proposed and rejected. Some of the record companies involved also wished to settle as legal fees were mounting for them as well.
Industry experts say the RIAA backed down in its claim for damages for fear of a public relations backlash.
Thomas-Rasset's case is now expected to be appealed further to the Supreme Court.
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