Single mother Jammie Thomas fined $220,000 for music file sharing

by liamssoft | October 4, 2007 at 11:16 pm

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Jammie Thomas, a Native American from Minnesota, is one of 26,000 people the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued over the past four years for alleged use of music “file-sharing” software.

A single mother who took a stand against America’s biggest record companies over music piracy was yesterday fined $220,000 (£107,844)(e136,134)

The 30-year-old made legal history after refusing to pay an out-of-court settlement, as all others challenged over their behaviour before her had done, but her failure to carry the case is likely to further embolden the music industry in its attempts to protect copyright.

A federal jury sitting in Duluth, Minnesota, ordered Ms Thomas, who has two children aged 11 and 13, to pay the six record companies that sued her $9,250 for each of 24 songs they focused on in the case. The sum is equivalent to around five times her annual salary.

The fine will almost certainly go uncollected and is expected to drive Ms Thomas into bankruptcy.