RIAA appeals Jammie Thomas court ruling

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is appealing a mistrial court ruling in the Jammie Thomas case, who was forced to pay the RIAA $222,000 over alleged copyright infringement.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Davis dismissed the $222,000 verdict the RIAA won against Thomas -- much to the dismay of the RIAA.

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Specifically, the RIAA wants the judge to let the case go to appeal before a retrial is scheduled, although it is unclear what the judge will do.

If a new trial takes place, the RIAA will be forced to prove Thomas distributed the copyrighted tracks through the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing program.  Judge Davis considered whether or not other users actually downloaded the file, or if simply making files available through the network was enough.

Last year, Judge Davis told the jury that simply offering music files available through a peer-to-peer network was enough to show unauthorized distribution even if no one else downloaded the music files.  In August, however, he admitted he could be wrong, which led him to throw out the verdict and issue a new trial.

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The RIAA wants a federal appeals court to look at Judge Davis' decision to overturn the $222,000 ruling the RIAA originally won against Thomas.

Jammie Thomas' attorney, Brian Toder, plans to "vigorously oppose" the RIAA's request for appeal.

Thomas reportedly offered 24 songs through Kazaa.

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The RIAA has filed more than 26,000 lawsuits against file sharers across the country over the past few years.  Thomas is the only person who has chosen to take her case to trial.

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