RIAA Now 0 fer 30000!

That’s right! The RIAA was dragged into an appeal on the Jammy Thomas case and lost. At this point they have to feel like Hamilton Burger of the old Perry Mason series. Always forceful but never wins against his nemsis.

The $222,000 verdict against Jammy Thomas for copyright infringement by P2P is no more. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Davis dismissed the verdict (PDF), saying it was based on the faulty “making available” theory of distribution. Thomas will face a new trial, in which the RIAA will have to prove actual distribution.

The decision means the RIAA now has zero wins at trial, Wired notes.

RIAA’s “making available” theory would hold that someone has distributed copyright material merely by creating the potential for distribution. Under the RIAA’s theory, it need not show actual distribution. The judge soundly denied this legal reasoning:

If simply making a copyrighted work available to the public constituted a distribution, even if no member of the public ever accessed that work, copyright owners would be able to make an end run around the standards for assessing contributor copyright infringement.

Not to say the RIAA hasn’t gotten wins. They have against those who just ponied up the green mail to them rather than fight. But fighting seems to be a winning proposition now. Not only that but with this appeal the claim of mere presence in a share file does not constitute distribution. It also appears that the judge in the appeal agrees that the penalty was disproportionate to the anticipated loss.

Linky
HT: saschameinrath.com