Mistrial declared in Jammie Thomas/RIAA lawsuit

And so it will all begin again.

The judge in the now precedent-setting Jammie Thomas trial has reversed himself and declared a mistrial, ordering a new trial be held for the woman who was found guilty of sharing music (24 songs) over a peer-to-peer network and ordered to pay $222,000 in damages for her crimes. It was the first such verdict in legal history.

The new decision comes from Judge Michael Davis, who has ruled that he erred in telling juries about a specific instruction which was crucial to the verdict. At issue: Whether "making copyrighted material available" is a crime in and of itself. In the original trial, Davis told the jury that the music labels did not need to prove that any infringement actually occurred, just that Thomas had made the tracks available for infringement, regardless of whether any infringement actually took place. Now he has revised his opinion on the matter and has ordered a retrial, this time with different jury instructions.

The RIAA has previously said that it will re-try the case, "without hesitation."

Davis has been mulling his position for more than four months, after noting in May that he might reverse his earlier ruling. The new ruling and mistrial declaration were issued last night. In addition to his concerns about the rule of law, he has also expressed dissatisfaction with the enormous financial penalty the jury assessed in the original trial, declaring that $222,000 is way out of line against the roughly $54 the 24 offending tracks would be worth if purchased as compact discs.

What happens now? Unless Thomas and the RIAA reach a settlement (which seems unlikely), it's back to square one, with a new trial and a new jury. More news as it develops... likely in 2009.