Fla. woman accused of illegal file-sharing

STUART, Fla., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- A 20-year-old woman in Hobe Sound, Fla., illegally shared 419 copyrighted songs online, a federal lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America on July 29 placed Stephanie Wielinski among the nearly 30,000 people to have been targeted for litigation by the music group since 2003, Scripps Treasure Coast newspapers said Sunday.

Such lawsuits are now at risk as U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis is revisiting a case he presided on last October that dealt with illegal file-sharing.

The jury case was against a Minnesota resident convicted of illegally sharing 24 music files online and ordered to pay $9,250 for each file to the record companies behind the musical works.

But Davis is considering reopening the case since no proof was ever presented during the trial that showed the files were distributed for infringement of their copyrights, the newspaper group said.

The apparent violation of a court precedent could mean a new trial in the case and could cause record companies to reconsider legal action since proof of such illegal actions would be difficult to obtain.