Mother of Four has File Sharing Fine Cut

Had to pay up to $192,000,000 for 24 songs

    

    The inflation rate from 2006 to 2009 was 6.48%, but for Jammie Thomas it was 872.72%. Thomas uploaded some Green Day and Aerosmith tracks to Kazza in 2005.A year later the RIAA sent the mother of four a cease-and-desist letter with a settlement offer. She refused, and was sued for “unauthorized” file sharing to the tune of $9,250 a song (that’s $220,000.)

    4 years after her original case, she got a retrial. It didn’t go any better and she was forced to pay the staggering sum of 1.92 million. Songs are 99¢ on iTunes. 

    But Thomas’s case came in three acts. Thomas filed a motion railing against the court’s decision. Thomas claimed her ruling was unconstitutional (1.92m being disproportionate) and the evidence used against her was inadmissible do to wiretapping violations.

   The motion called for a retrial with suppressed evidence, a reduction in damages to $18,000, or just outright removal of statuary damages. Thomas final won- mostly.

    On January, 25, 2010 a Minnesota Judge adjusted the fine to a more realistic $54,000. A fine she still doesn’t intend to pay. "It's easier for me to wrap my brain around $54,000 than $1.92 million," Thomas told a local Minnesota radio show. "Obviously, I still won't be able to come up with 54 grand to pay this off. But that's a decision that I, right at this moment, I still don't have to make."