Source: http://azoz.com (All relevant links at the source article!)

by George Ziemann -- Sept. 27, 2007

The Facts (from Recording Industry vs The People)

The RIAA's motion for "summary adjudication" was denied last week, and the jury trial in Virgin v. Thomas is now scheduled to begin Tuesday, October 2nd, at 9:00 AM, before Hon. Michael Davis, at the federal courthouse in Duluth, Minnesota:

417 Federal Building, 515 W. 1st Street, Duluth, Minnesota

Proceedings are open to the public.

This is a case in which the RIAA has no evidence that the defendant, Ms. Jammie Thomas, committed any copyright infringement. The RIAA has claimed that it will call Dr. Doug Jacobson and Cary Sherman as witnesses, as well as employees of the various record companies and of SafeNet/MediaSentry.

This is believed to be the first jury trial since the RIAA began its litigation campaign more than 4 years ago.

What I Think

There are still five days left for the RIAA to change its mind about taking a case to trial wherein "the RIAA has no evidence". Just like every other case they bring to court.

I'm hoping their ego gets the best of them and they actually go through with a trial. I want to hear (or at least read the transcript of) Cary Sherman testifying in court, under oath, because perjury is gonna take place.

Even better, due to the foresight of Judge Davis, the jury will get to hear why suits from the labels are the owners of the all the copyrights and not Gun N Roses, Vanessa Williams, Janet Jackson, Journey, Godsmack or Sheryl Crow, who I know will be especially pleased to have her work proven to be a "Work for Hire," considering the testimony Sheryl gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 25, 2000.

"As you are aware, the designation of a sound recording as a work made for hire has severe implications for recording artists. The most serious consequence is that featured artists are no longer considered the author of the sound recording and thus are denied the right of termination under the Copyright Act, which is granted to all other authors."

"In the record industry, as a recording artist I do not receive a fee for making an album. I may receive an advance to cover the cost of the recording process, which I am responsible for paying back in full. In other words, I don't receive a dime from the sale of my records until I have paid for all the costs incurred during production up to the point of distribution.

"In short, the sound recording artist is not only the author but is also the person in charge of all facets of production up to the point of distribution. We give the record labels our work to exploit for 35 years. Like other authors, we should be able to reclaim our work as Congress intended."

The Long Shot

From Napster to Jammie Thomas, the RIAA has consistently taken the path best defined as the ever-changing answer to the question, "What's the stupidest thing we can do next?"

Today's answer is "Lose the first case."

Some of us have been waiting a long time to see this day. If they do lose, then it will be that much easier for Tanya Andersen to take them all to the cleaners, which she's probably going to do anyway.

UPDATE:
=========================

RIAA Earns Pre-Trial Penalty in Virgin v Thomas

by George Ziemann -- Oct 2, 2007

The case of Virgin Records and the rest of the music cartel against Jammie Thomas begins today in Duluth, with the RIAA managing to shoot themselves just above the left ear before they even get to jury selection.

As anyone who's ever watched Law and Order or CSI knows, there's a "discovery" period, during which the plaintiff (RIAA, in this case) has to cough up all the evidence against the defendant, so that the defense has an opportunity to explain it.

The discovery period for Virgin v Thomas ended seven months ago. Since you have to be the registered copyright owner to bring an infringement case, the RIAA really needed to offer evidence that they owned the songs in question. What Thomas' attorney got was a list of 27 titles, who owned them, and copies of copyright registrations. One small problem, 14 of those songs (more than half) were registered to someone other than the parties bringing the lawsuit.

Two weeks ago, the RIAA arrogantly showed up with 784 pieces of paper that they claim will show how possession of the copyrights was transferred to the current owners. Thomas' attorney called "foul" because these documents should have been provided long ago.

On Oct. 1, the judge agreed. Now the RIAA is precluded (banned) from admitting any of the entire stack of new documents. This will make the question of ownership of more than half the songs referred to in the case even more difficult for the RIAA to establish. Now they're stuck with their own disinformation and half-truths.

Oh yeah, this is gonna be good.

Oct 2 -- Day 1 -- Case renamed Capitol Records v Jammie Thomas because the RIAA dropped the only Virgin Records tune from the case. Jury was selected and RIAA immediately started introducing half-truths (making even one copy of a song you legally purchased is theft) and conjecture ("the defendant distributed the songs to 'millions of others' on the Internet").

Another problem for the RIAA -- Thomas had a problem with her hard drive and had it replaced a month before she found out she was being sued by the RIAA.

alright someone check the temperature in hell tell me its froze over

There is an old maxim among lawyers...If you have the law on your side, quote the law...If the facts are on your side, stress the facts...If you have neither the law nor the facts on your side, pound on the table and talk loudly....I guess the toadies for the RIAA will be doing a lot of table pounding and loud talking...
see my article on Day 1 of the Trial...
~Code

I have a feeling we're gonna lose.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071004-debate-over-making-available-jury-instruction-as-capitol-v-thomas-wraps-up.html

The making available argument was pretty critical. to quote the updated article ...

" Toder disagreed, but at the end, Judge Davis amended the instruction to say that the "act of making available for electronic distribution... violates the copyright owner's exclusive copyright." That decision should make it easier for the jury to find Thomas liable. "

This is utter crap.
As in the case with Judge Owen, who
turned out to have a recording deal
with a member of Sony, I HAVE to wonder
just what this Judges industry connections might be.

I can't begin to say how fucking disgusted I am with our legal system,
our coporations, and our way of life.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071004-verdict-is-in.html

Liable for 222,000 dollars in damages.

What bullshit.

I .. give .. up.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/riaa_trial/index.html

Well, I guess the mainstream media is gonna cover this story now.

well this wasnt what i was expecting to happen this is what happens when i get my hopes up.

I think that we should all send an e-mail to the RIAA webmaster and tell the RIAA to go fuck themselves and drop dead and junk like that.

Keep on downloading; it's none of their fucking business what you do on your own home private computer (stress on the word "private")