Comments on: Jammie Thomas v RIAA jury instructions

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:47:35 +0000

According to:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

“Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review.”

Maybe she was just “reviewing” these songs, didn’t like them, forgot about them, went out for lunch and that’s where it should have ended.

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:24:32 +0000

“Instead, she denied everything.”
Maybe she simply didn’t remember. Who remembers every mundane task they do every day?
Especially if it’s music you really don’t like, once you’ve heard a few bars. She may have just left it on her hard drive with all the other “junk” files.
No lost sale if she would not have ever purchased it in the first place,
and no lost sale if there were no subsequent sharers.

It might be considered Fair Use in that case….but Judge Davis did not explain Fair Use to the jury.
Judge Davis might not even know what Fair Use is himself!

By: Steamboat Willie

Steamboat Willie — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 08:35:32 +0000

@Reader’s Write – Maybe, maybe not. It would have to be tested in court with a defendant who claims they engaged in Fair Use. It’s irrelevant in this case because Jammie and her lawyers made no such claim. In order to claim Fair Use, she would’ve had to admit to deliberately possessing the files. Instead, she denied everything. What choice did she have?

By: loubat

loubat — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:28:27 +0000

Exactly, what if you don’t agree with the “Jury Instructions?” Here’s an order from a Judge saying the above is true, but what if it’s NOT TRUE???? I don’t think the jury was fairly instructed… again!

By: Reader's Write

Reader's Write — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:56:32 +0000

“JURY INSTRUCTION NO. 18
The act of downloading copyrighted sound recordings on a peer‐to‐peer
network, without license from the copyright owners, violates the copyright
owners’ exclusive reproduction right.”

is that true in the sense of Fair Use?