File-Sharing Litigation Groundhog Day

RIAA file-sharing punching bag Jammie Thomas-Rasset lost for the third time, a Minnesota jury finding her liable on Wednesday for copyright infringement and ordering that she pay damages of $1.5 million.  A 2007 jury trial resulted in a $222,000 RIAA damage award against Thomas-Rasset.  She appealed, there was a retrial in 2009, and she lost again:  liability for copyright infringement and $1.92 million in damages to the RIAA.  The trial judge reduced that “monstrous and shocking” award to $54,000.  The RIAA offered to settle for $25,000, Thomas-Rasset refused, and the RIAA tried its case again, which brings us back to Wednesday’s verdict.  Thomas-Rasset’s counsel said she would appeal–to the federal judge who reduced the $1.92 million award.