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RIAA's Only Legal Victory in Jeopardyby George Ziemann -- May 15, 2008 Remember the RIAA's lawsuit against Jammie Thomas? The only one out of the tens of thousands of cases filed that actually went to trial? The RIAA won that case. Their problem is that the judge figured out that the RIAA scammed him and now he thinks Jammie Thomas should get a new trial. One source says, "Judge Michael Davis notified attorneys earlier today that he is leaning towards granting Thomas' request for a new trial in light of what he now apparently believes was a flawed jury instruction." But that's not what happened at all. Judge Davis is not "leaning towards granting Thomas' request." Thomas was requesting a new trial on the grounds that the $222,000 that she was fined was excessive. The judge wants to give her a new trial for a completely different reason, namely that the RIAA talked him into instructing the jury that "making available" constituted copyright infringement. David now feels that this instruction was a "manifest error of law." That's because a higher court already decided (in a case not involving the music industry) that "making available" was not infringement if no one took a copy. The RIAA "forgot" to mention this, along with a couple of other small details, probably because every one of their existing cases hinges on the "making available" theory. They convinced the judge and Thomas' attorney never brought reality to the court's attention. Fortunately, the judge found it on his own and is going to hold a hearing on July 1, where he will give the RIAA an opportunity to say something stupid before he grants Thomas a new trial, negating the RIAA's only legal victory to date. Ironically, Richard Gabriel, the RIAA lawyer responsible for deliberately misinforming the court, won't have to face Davis, since he starts a new job on July 1. Gabriel has been appointed to be an appeals court judge in Colorado. Seems like they "forgot" a few of the normal job requirements. Expect this to ripple through every case the RIAA has going. |
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