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Analysis of Appeals Courts' Views on File Sharer Damages

By Sheri Qualters

In 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit issued what was only the second federal appellate ruling on statutory damages against an infringing file sharer. Capitol Records Inc. v. Thomas-Rasset, 692 F.3d 899 (8th Cir. 2012). In Thomas-Rasset, the Eighth Circuit reinstated statutory damages of more than $220,000 against a woman who illegally file-shared two dozen songs, finding the damages to be constitutional.

A unanimous panel held that Jammie Thomas-Rasset had to pay $222,000 in damages, or $9,250 per work, to several recording companies. That was the amount the labels were awarded in October 2007 after the first of three trials in the case. The appeals court also held that Chief Judge Michael Davis of the District of Minnesota erred by ruling in July 2011 that the due process clause allowed statutory damages of only $54,000. That ruling followed the third trial.

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