Duluth, Minn. - The federal judge who presided over the first music file-sharing copyright damages award against an individual, when in October a jury ordered Jammie Thomas to pay record labels $220,000 in damages, said this week that he may have erred in his instructions to the jury, and is considering granting a new trial, according to reports.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis said he was not made aware of a pertinent precedent that called into question the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) argument that simply the "making available" of songs on a hard drive via a file-sharing network amounted to infringement.

However, as Wired.com notes, at trial the RIAA's lawyers said that their agent MediaSentry did in fact download songs made available from Thomas' computer.

Judge Davis has scheduled a hearing on July 1 on whether to grant a new trial.

"This technicality does not change the overwhelming facts and evidence that ultimately proved Ms. Thomas' liability," RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth told Wired.com.

"Although we do not believe that the court should disturb the unanimous verdict of the 12 jurors, if we have to re-try the case, we will do so without hesitation."

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/2979z (Recording Industry vs. The People)

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/jammie-thomas-n.html

http://snipurl.com/297db (DMW previous coverage)