Woman loses RIAA Internet theft appeal

By Steve Malone

Posted on 13 Dec 2005 at 10:37

A mother of five has lost her appeal against a conviction for illegally downloading music from the Internet.

In one of the first such cases brought by the RIAA, Cecilia Gonzales had been found guilty of illegally downloading material from the KaZaA p2p network. After rejecting a settlement with the RIAA of $3,500, she was taken to court. Upon conviction, Gonzales was fined a total of $750 per song found on her computer with a total fine of $22,500

Cecilia Gonzales, 29 claimed that she was not 'stealing' the tunes but was merely sampling them with a view to buying them later. Claiming a 'fair use' defence, her lawyers said that under US copyright law this is perfectly permissible.

However, the Federal Appeals Court disagreed and rejected her petition. In its judgement the court said: 'A copy downloaded, played and retained on one's hard drive for future use is a direct substitute for a purchased copy'. The judges went on to add that it 'is no more relevant than a thief's contention that he shoplifted only 30 compact discs, planning to listen to them at home and pay later.'

Gonzales is said to be considering taking her case to the Supreme Court although it is unlikely that she will be allowed a hearing or successfully plead her case.