MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? A federal judge has again reduced the penalty imposed on a Minnesota woman for illegally sharing 24 songs online, this time from $1.5 million to $54,000.
U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis said in a ruling Friday that the penalty of $62,500 per song imposed by a jury last year in the long-running case was unreasonable. He reduced that to $2,250 per song.
Attorneys for Jammie (JAY’-mee) Thomas-Rasset argued the $1.5 million judgment violated the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution because the penalty had no reasonable relationship to the damage caused.
The recording industry sued Thomas-Rasset in 2006 for illegally sharing music on the file-sharing site Kazaa. Three juries have ruled against her, but the case has seen multiple appeals.
Thomas-Rasset’s attorney did not immediately return a call.
