Judge Lowers Jammie Thomas' Damages to $54,000

An anonymous reader writes "Judge Michael Davis has slashed the amount Jammie Thomas-Rassett is said to owe Big Music from almost $2,000,000 to $54,000. 'The need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 million verdict for stealing and illegally distributing 24 songs for the sole purpose of obtaining free music. Moreover, although Plaintiffs were not required to prove their actual damages, statutory damages must still bear some relation to actual damages.' The full decision (PDF) is also available."

Comments

Re:My favorite part

[sanosuke001]

I know it won't be as funny pointing out the irony, but it's his decision on what is the maximum amount reasonable so he goes on to say that he can't make the amount lower because it isn't his decision? How the hell did he drop it to $54,000 if it wasn't his decision?

It's a positive

[NewYorkCountryLawyer]

Yes the amount is still absurd, but at least the principle that the statutory damages must bear a reasonable relationship to the actual damages has been invoked and vindicated. My blog post is here: Jammie Thomas verdict reduced from $1.92M to $54,000 and my Slasdhot submission is here.

Irony

[Spazmania]

Here's a spot of irony for you...

We used to say, "Dude, it's just infringement. It's not really theft."

Now we say, "Christ, it's just petty theft."