Filesharer fined $222,000 for uploading 24 songs online

The Supreme Court of America has ruled that illegal filesharer Jammie Thomas-Rasset should be fined $222,000 for uploading 24 copyrighted songs to the internet.

Thomas-Rasset’s lawyers had been petitioning the Supreme Court over what they deem the unjustness of the fine, but the judges refused to take the issue to court, instead siding with Capitol Records, who were issuing the fine.

The court said:

“In particular, the exclusive rights conferred by a copyright are intended to motivate the creative activity of authors… by the provision of a special reward, and to allow the public access to the products of their genius after the limited period of exclusive control has expired.”

RIAA released the following statement on Capitol’s behalf.

“Jammie Thomas-Rasset’s copyright infringement was willful in the extreme. Three separate juries have concluded that her blatant and unapologetic violation of Respondents’ rights warranted a substantial award under the Copyright Act’s statutory damages provision.”

Pigeons and Planes point out that if Thomas-Rasset had purchased the tracks legally, it would have made Capitol just $16.80.