Thomas to appeal filesharing verdict

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 09 October 2007 01:53

Your IT - Home IT

Jammie Thomas, the Minnesota woman facing a damages bill of over $US200,000 after losing in court to the RIAA, is planning an appeal against the verdict.

The news was announced by her lawyer on TV, and repeated on Thomas's MySpace blog.

"He explained how we're going to take the RIAA's theory of making available and appeal it" wrote Thomas. "He also explained how if we win, this would stop the RIAA dead in their tracks!!!  Every single suit they have brought has been based on this making available theory, and if we can win this appeal, they would actually have to prove a file was shared and by someone other than their own licensed agent (read MediaSentry)."

The jury was instructed that the complainant did not have to establish that any of the files allegedly being shared by Thomas were downloaded by another party, but that the act of making them available was sufficient to violate copyright.

Thomas maintains that she did not share the music. "I have NEVER used a P2P software to download or upload music," she wrote in another blog entry . "That was reason number one why I refused to settle with the music labels that were suing me in the first place.  I did not do what they had accused me of and I was not going to pay them for someone else's actions."

An online appeal is running at FreeJammie.com to help cover Thomas's legal expenses, including those relating to the appeal. As at October 8, $US957 had been donated.

There has been speculation that her legal costs could already be as high as $US60,000.