Jammie Thomas case scheduled for argument in 8th Circuit, Tuesday June 12th, 9 AM

In Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset, oral argument before the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit is scheduled for Tuesday, June 12th, at 9:00 A.M. Each side has been alotted 30 minutes for its argument.

The argument will take place at the Warren E. Burger Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse at 316 N. Robert Street, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Although this case involved the District Court's repudiation of the RIAA's "making available" theory, Ms. Thomas-Rasset's attorneys have sought to waive that issue on appeal, and confine the appeal to the issue of the unconstitutionality of the RIAA's statutory damages theory.

Notice of arguments (PDF)

The only appellate briefs of which we are aware are the following:

RIAA brief
Amicus brief of EFF, Public Knowledge, et al
MPAA Amicus brief
DOJ Appellee Brief
Thomas-Rasset Reply Brief

If anyone is aware of other briefs, please advise.

[Ed. note. I cannot for the life of me understand why Ms. Thomas-Rasset's lawyers wanted to waive the "making available" issue, since [1] the RIAA is clearly dead wrong in its arguments, [2] the District Court was dead right in its holding on this issue, and [3] the 8th Circuit is one of the appellate courts that has weighed in on this issue, holding explicitly that a violation of the distribution right requires actual dissemination of actual copies, not merely an "offer" to distribute. Their brief attempting to waive the issue may or may not succeed in taking the issue out of play; we shall see. -R.B.]

Commentary & discussion:

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