Precedent-Setting Piracy Case Begins

The Recording Industry Association of America is having its day in a Minnesota court against a mom accused of digital copyright violations. The nation's first-of-its-kind case could prove to be a deterrent for digital piracy -- if the RIAA wins.

The precedent-setting case is part of the RIAA's campaign against file-sharing piracy. The RIAA is asking for as much as $3.9 million dollars, plus legal fees, from a jury it hopes will see sufficient evidence to rule against Jammie Thomas in U.S. District Court in Duluth, Minnesota.

Virgin v. Thomas puts a recording industry giant head to head with a 30-year-old woman from Brainerd, Minnesota. Virgin Records has RIAA members Sony BMG, Capitol Records, Arista Records, Warner Bros., UMG Recordings, and Interscope Records in its corner. The plaintiffs claim that Thomas distributed 1,702 copyrighted audio files on file-sharing network Kazaa in 2005.

"Plaintiffs will prove that the defendant is liable for the direct infringement of plaintiffs' copyrights because she downloaded and distributed them over the Internet without plaintiffs' authorization," several music-industry lawyers wrote in court documents. The defendant maintains her innocence.

RIAA's Zero-Tolerance Campaign

The RIAA has launched more than 20,000 lawsuits since it set out on its zero-tolerance campaign to stop digital piracy in September 2003. Some suits have settled out of court, while others were dismissed. This is the first time a case promises to go before a jury as Thomas said she has no plans to settle.

The RIAA has said these lawsuits came only after a multiyear effort to educate the public about the illegality of unauthorized downloading and about the vast libraries of music available through dozens of legitimate online services. The lawsuits are the enforcement wave of its education program.

The RIAA just initiated the eighth wave of its legal campaign earlier this month, sending 403 prelitigation settlement letters to...