Los Angeles - A judge has ruled that the "making available" of copyrighted content on a file-sharing network can constitute copyright infringement, in the second such known ruling by a judge hearing a major label's case against an individual file-swapper, according to a post on the Recording Industry vs. The People blog.

The judge hearing Atlantic v. Howell said that screenshots of defendant Jeffrey Howell's Kazaa account, taken by P2P monitoring firm MediaSentry, were enough proof to grant the label's motion for summary judgment against Howell.

"It is no defense that a Kazaa user did not directly oversee the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material," the ruling states.

The judge awarded $40,500 in damages to Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records.

Recording Industry vs. The People further noted that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has written to judges overhearing two other file-sharing cases (Elektra v. Barker, Warner v. Cassin), to bring their attention to the ruling in Atlantic v. Howell.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2jlx93 (Recording Industry vs. The People)

http://tinyurl.com/2vf8q4 (PDF of ruling)

http://tinyurl.com/2rjk6c (Recording Industry vs. The People)