RIAA Appeals Mistrial Ruling In The Jammie Thomas Trial

from the i-object! dept

Thu, Oct 16th 2008 3:02am — Mike Masnick

The RIAA seems so positively offended that its "making available" theory keeps getting rejected by courts that it's willing to object to just about anything. As you probably know, the RIAA's only "win" in a full trial was declared a mistrial, after the judge realized he had made a "manifest error of law" in incorrectly instructing the jury that simply making a file available in a shared folder was the equivalent of "distribution" under copyright law. The judge then ordered a new trial.

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that the RIAA is appealing this decision, asking an appeals court to overturn the mistrial ruling and let the original ruling stand. While it may not be a surprise that the RIAA would be upset at the ruling, filing an appeal on a mistrial ruling is highly unusual. Normally, appeals are focused on actual rulings, not a decision that a trial was a mistrial. It seems like a long shot that the appeals court would agree to review the mistrial ruling.

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Filed Under: copyright, jammie thomas, making available, mistrial, trial
Companies: riaa

14 Comments

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Eeqmcsq, 16 Oct 2008 @ 3:38am

Desperation
They're desperate in wanting to keep their only trial victory so they can continue to use it to beat people over the head with.
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some old guy, 16 Oct 2008 @ 4:19am

this is not exactly a surprise
Considering the RIAA has filed every other piece of paper that a good lawyer would file, I see no reason to be surprised by the fact that they filed this piece of paper.

Granted it only has a .0000000001% chance of working, but what exactly did it cost to try? This has been a staple of their strategy thus far.
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Ima Fish, 16 Oct 2008 @ 4:32am

"Normally, appeals are focused on actual rulings, not a decision that a trial was a mistrial."

You don't mean "actual," you mean "final." Normally only "final" orders are appealed. However, rulings that are not final can be appealed through an interlocutory process. Which is admittedly frowned upon.
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Liquid, 16 Oct 2008 @ 4:32am

Re: Desperation
Thats what the people that hire these lawyers want. They want to keep harping on you, and ware you out so that you would just go "FINE I GIVE UP TAKE MY MONEY". Even though they know their corporate buisness modles dont work anymore. You would also think afte the other day when Bush signed that IP bill the RIAA/MPAA was breaking out the shampagin, because they would actually be able to start winning trials...

Personally myself and everyone else in this world are just flat out sick and tired of hearing about how the RIAA/MPAA is making peoples lives a living hell over this crap. People are going to keep pirating music, movies, etc, because of the lack of money that they are making. I know that I am not going to go out and buy a new CD at 12-20$ a pop or 1-3 maybe good songs that I would actually listen to... I just dont have the money for it. Neither does the rest of the country/world.
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Greg, 16 Oct 2008 @ 5:09am

Re: Re: Desperation
Agreed, but I can't take the misspellings. "ware you out" is "wear you out," "modles" is "models," "shampagin" (!) is "champagne." And yea, I'm being a grammar/spelling nazi to point out "12-20$" should be "$12-20" and "or 1-3" most likely should be "for 1-3."
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2008 @ 5:13am

Off topic observation/ranting
Mike, doesn't your wife say "i-object!" when your posting blog reports at 3:02 am? I just worry some day us "anonymous cowards" are going to get stuck with having to bail you out.

I can imagine the conversation now: "Yes, Hon, I was blogging with Liquid, Ima Fish, Anonymous Coward, some old guy, and a guy's name I can't quite pronounce about the Jammie Thomas trial." Yeech. I wish I could pull that one out of my ass and have anyone believe me.

As I review this comment, I realize how much of a lucky asshole you are.
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Dave, 16 Oct 2008 @ 5:16am

@Greg: I agree. It's really quite offensive to read illiterate posts like this.

People shouldn't post if they can't write properly.
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some old guy, 16 Oct 2008 @ 5:40am

Re: Re: Re: Desperation
I Object!

And yea, I'm being a grammar/spelling nazi to point out "12-20$" should be "$12-20"...

That should really be 12-20 USD. No currency is pronounced before the numeric, and it should be written contrary to how it is spoken. Instead, use the rule that makes sense. Use the ISO standard to display currency.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2008 @ 5:44am

RE: Spelling Grammer Nazis
It is the internet. Now boobs or GTFO!
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Daniel, 16 Oct 2008 @ 5:47am

Greg, you realise every forum/message board post correcting a spelling mistake is required by unspoken internet law to have at least one typo in it.
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Eeqmcsq, 16 Oct 2008 @ 5:54am

Re: Off topic observation/ranting
I would assume Mike has an automated or timed feature that posts his blogs at certain times.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Oct 2008 @ 8:48am

fawk de RIAA! And all yu spellng NAZIs!

Not 1 cent!
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Liquid, 16 Oct 2008 @ 9:21am

Re: RE: Spelling Grammer Nazis
LOL it's not like I am getting graded on this... It's just a matter of them feeling inteligent as well as important to correct others online.
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Jimbo, 16 Oct 2008 @ 9:24am

stupid RIAA
I haven't bought anything new from a major label in a long time. Indie labels FTW!
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