There aren't that many file-sharing cases that went to trial, just two in the US in fact, but the ones that have tend to go on forever. Last week, the judge presiding in the RIAA versus Jamie Thomas-Rasset case significantly lowered the damages ordered by the jury in the last round of the trial, from $1.92 million to just $54,000. But even this was deemed too much and Thomas-Rasset said she wouldn't pay this amount either. The RIAA, eager to put this case behind it, offered a settlement for just $25,000 as long as judge's decision to reduce the damages was removed from record.

This settlement offer was quickly rejected as well, leaving the RIAA with no alternative than to challenge the reduction. The Recording Industry Association of America, the group representing the four major labels in anything involving copyright infringement and illegal file-sharing, wants to get past the whole legal dispute which has been several years in the making.

Practically, the RIAA has won its case against the Minnesota woman accused of sharing 24 songs over the Kazaa file-sharing network. However, there are a couple of decisions in the case which would set a bad precedent for the copyright group. One of them is the recent decision to overrule the jury awarded damages and lower the amount to a much more manageable, though still significant amount. The second decision was the judge's opinion on "making available" which he argued wasn't technically a copyright infringement. This was the reason why the first trial was dismissed and is a decision which the RIAA challenges.

The entire case dates back to several years ago when Thomas-Rasset refused to settle with the RIAA out of court after being accused of illegal file-sharing. In the first case, the jury found her guilty and awarded $220,000 in damages to the RIAA. This decision was overruled for the reason detailed above and a second trial got under way. This too would find her guilty and the damages went up to $1.92 million, a record-setting amount. Since then the judge has lowered the sum, but this too doesn't look like the end of it as the RIAA is going to challenge this decision in all likelihood. [via Cnet]