Judge Grants New Trial in Thomas Downloading Case

U. S. District Court Judge Michael J. Davis has reversed the verdict in Capital Records v. Thomas, saying that it had erred in instructing the jury, and is therefore granting Ms. Thomas a new trial. The disputed jury instruction, requested by the plaintiffs and accepted by the judge, was the following: “`The act of making copyrighted sound recordings available for electronic distribution on a peer-to-peer network, without license from the copyright owners, violates the copyright owners’ exclusive right of distribution, regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown.'”

Liability for violation of the exclusive distribution right found in § 106(3) requires actual dissemination. Jury Instruction No. 15 was erroneous and that error substantially prejudiced Thomas’s rights. Based on the Court’s error in instructing the jury, it grants Thomas a new trial. Because the Court grants a new trial on the basis of jury instruction error, it does not reach Thomas’s claim regarding excessive damages set forth in her motion for a new trial. Plaintiffs’ request to amend the judgment is denied because the judgment is vacated.

Read the ruling here.