Its been indicated by a judge that he is likly to resolve a case he made an error on by declaring it a mis-trial, spoiling the RIAA's single claim of a legitimate "win" into the bargain.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/judge-hints-at.htmlThe federal judge who presided over the nation's only peer-to-peer copyright-infringement trial announced from the bench here Monday that he is likely to declare a mistrial.
"Certainly, I have sent a signal to both sides of where I'm headed," U.S. District Judge Michael Davis said during a 70-minute hearing in which lawyers for the Recording Industry Association of America and defendant Jammie Thomas sparred over whether a jury verdict against Thomas should be overturned.
At issue is whether the RIAA needs to prove that copyrighted music offered by a defendant on a peer-to-peer network was actually downloaded by anyone. During Thomas' trial last October, Davis, on the RIAA's recommendation, instructed (.pdf) the jury that no such proof was necessary; if Thomas had the music in her Kazaa shared folder, where it could be downloaded, she could be found liable "regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown."
In court briefs, (.pdf) the RIAA asked that the judge, if he finds that proof of downloading is necessary, allow the files downloaded by the RIAA's investigators to be counted as unlawful distribution. Toder, however, argued that the RIAA should not be allowed to use downloads it made from Thomas or anybody else's share folder.
Those downloads, Toder said, cannot be considered unauthorized downloads because the RIAA authorized them.
"You can't infringe your own copyright," Toder said.
I just wish the judge would get on with making the necessary announcement, why it takes months to state the obvious is something the legal profession should be ashamed of.
