A single mother of two children takes on the Recording Industry Association of America in a Duluth courtroom today in the nation's first copyright infringement case to reach a jury.
The RIAA -- representing Virgin Records, Capitol Records, Sony BMG, Arista Records, Interscope Records, Warner Bros. Records and UMG Recordings -- claims that Jammie Thomas of Brainerd, Minn., distributed 1,702 digital audio files -- many of them the plaintiffs' copyrighted sound recordings -- from the KaZaA shared folder on her computer to "potentially millions of other KaZaA users'' for free.
According to the plaintiffs' proposed verdict form, the industry is seeking as much as $3.9 million in damages -- up to $150,000 for each of 26 copyrighted sound recordings that were allegedly pirated. The trial is in Duluth because it is the federal court nearest to Brainerd.
Minneapolis attorney Brian Toder is representing the defendant. Toder said Thomas, 30, is the single mother of two children, ages 11 and 13. She's employed by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in the administration of its natural resources department, he said.
Toder was asked why the case is going to trial. "Because we wouldn't allow ourselves to be bullied," he said. "Most people settle when they get these kind of lawsuits ... They're very good at getting people to settle."
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Toder said federal court rules precluded him from commenting on details of his case.
In a court-filed document, Thomas' attorney said she "did not download anything from KaZaA or any other peer-to-peer network'' and questions whether the plaintiffs own the copyrights they allege are theirs.
As the result of a Feb. 21, 2005, investigation, the plaintiffs claim Thomas, under the username tereastarr@KaZaA , distributed pirated audio files over the Internet. The plaintiffs filed a "Doe'' lawsuit and subpoenaed Charter Communications to identify Thomas as the subscriber responsible for the pirating, according to the plaintiffs' "statement of case."
Denver lawyer Richard Gabriel is the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs. He couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
"Without commenting specifically on the merits of this case, I will say that with all our cases we try to be fair and reasonable in resolving them quickly and out of court," Cara Duckworth, director of communications for the Recording Industry Association of America, said in an e-mail Monday. "I might add that we settle for amounts far less than what the law allows.''
The RIAA claims that the music industry is losing billions of dollars from the illegal copying of its music. The industry's zero-
tolerance copyright campaign started in 2003. It has brought more than 26,000 lawsuits against individuals who allegedly have illegally downloaded and/or distributed copyrighted music files, Duckworth said.
In separate cases, three University of Minnesota Duluth students are accused of allegedly downloading music illegally. UMD and 57 other U.S. college campuses were included in a wave of 503 pre-litigation settlement letters sent by RIAA last month.
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Jury selection begins this morning in Duluth federal court. U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis will preside over the trial, which is expected to conclude Thursday.
MARK STODGHILL covers public safety and courts. He can be reached weekdays at (218) 723-5333 or by e-mail at mstodghill@duluth
news.com.
