First P2P Conviction Likely to be Declared a Mistrial

Judge cites the fact that the RIAA wrongly made him believe that it didn't have to prove that any actual illegal distribution occurred, only that a person made it available for such purposes. Jammie Thomas, the first person ever to be convicted for illegal file-sharing, appears to be close to having the case declared a mistrial after a series of federal court rulings made US District Court Judge Michael Davis rethink his original jury instructions that they didn't have to determine whether or not any actual unauthorized distribution occurred only that an individual made it available for others to illegally obtain copyrighted material. "The Court is contemplating granting a new trial for a different reason – on the grounds that the Court committed a manifest error of law when, in Jury Instruction No.15, it instructed the jury that '[t]he act of making copyrighted sound recordings available for electronic distribution on a peer 'to' peer network, without license from the copyright owners, violates the copyright owners’ exclusive right of distribution, regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown," wrote Judge Davis in a court brief. His decision was based in part on Federal Judge Neil V.</img>


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