That’s pretty much the message the RIAA is sending in a recent court ruling against Minnesota resident Jammie Thomas-Rasset, who has been fighting against court hearings over 24 songs she illegally downloaded and shared online four years ago. A jury decided today that Rasset liable for $1.5 million in copyright infringement damages to Capital Records. That’s $62,500 for each song she downloaded. Though this is the third hearing in favor against her, Rasset is planning to appeal today’s judgment.
The RIAA released the following statement regarding the verdict:
“We are again thankful to the jury for its service in this matter and that they recognized the severity of the defendant’s misconduct. Now with three jury decisions behind us along with a clear affirmation of Ms. Thomas-Rasset’s willful liability, it is our hope that she finally accepts responsibility for her actions.”
You can read CNet News’ full report to learn more about Rasset’s previous hearings. We’ve said it before when we were baffled by Gene Simmon’s suing theory, and when we reported about the 16 year old losing his Mustang to the RIAA, but we’ll say it again: record companies are fighting the wrong issue! It’s one thing to go after legit threats like LimeWire, but to spend extraordinary money to make examples out of downloaders is wasting your efforts. Sure, Taylor Swift sold over a million copies of her new album in its first week, but seeing as how the rest of top 49 couldn’t even add up to a million should be enough of a wakeup call. Focus on new ways to increase sales, not on lawsuits to take back money from teenagers.
