Brainerd, Minn., woman loses music downloading appeal

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court and says a Minnesota woman who shared songs online owes record companies $222,000 for copyright violations.

A three-judge appeals panel ruled today that Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis erred when he cut the judgment against Jammie Thomas-Rasset to $54,000. Juries ruled against the Brainerd woman in three separate trials since 2006. Davis said the last judgment, of $1.5 million dollars, was appalling.

But the appeals court says the awards against her were not unreasonable. It sent the case back to Davis for an order that she pay $222,000 — the judgment from her first trial — and issue an injunction to bar her from making the plaintiffs’ recordings available for distribution via online file sharing systems in the future.

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