July 6th, 2009
Thomas-Rasset to appeal $1.9m verdict
Jammie Thomas-Rasset will appeal that almost $2 million verdict for having 24 songs available over Kazaa, P2PNet reports. Here’s what she told the site:
Will they be answered in my favor? I truly hope so because then every other person who has been targeted in the RIAA’s litigation campaign might have a better fighting chance.
I will admit this battle is wearing me rather thin, but I have to continue as I don’t know of anyone else to have ever reached this point, and we might help to establish a more fair set of laws in a new digital age.
I didn’t ask for this, it was thrust upon me by the RIAA and now they get to deal with the consequences of their extortion litigation tactics of using the law as a hammer to squish innocent bystanders in their war against everything new and not under their control.
Wish me luck.
Meanwhile, Richard Marx, whose “Now and Forever” was one of the songs in Thomas-Rasset’s folder, offered apologies for being associated with this particular travesty of justice.
As a longtime professional songwriter, I have always objected to the practice of illegal downloading of music. I have also always, however, been sympathetic to the average music fan, who has been consistently financially abused by the greedy actions of major labels.
These labels, until recently, were responsible for the distribution of the majority of recorded music, and instead of nurturing the industry and doing their best to provide the highest quality of music to the fans, they predominantly chose to ream the consumer and fill their pockets.
So now we have a “judgment” in a case of illegal downloading, and it seems to me, especially in these extremely volatile economic times, that holding Ms. Thomas-Rasset accountable for the continuing daily actions of hundreds of thousands of people is, at best, misguided and at worst, farcical. Her accountability itself is not in question, but this show of force posing as judicial come-uppance is clearly abusive.
Ms. Thomas-Rasset, I think you got a raw deal, and I’m ashamed to have my name associated with this issue.
