Jay Maynard writes "The judge in Capitol Records v. Thomas said today he's considering cap about granting a new trial because he may have committed a 'manifest error of law' in his jury instructions. He says that his instruction that simply uploading music to a P2P network without any proof that anyone genuinely downloaded it may conflict with a case in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that said 'infringement of requires an actual dissemination.' Briefs are due by May 29, with oral disagreement July 1. The judge invited friend of the court briefs by May 29, as well." NewYorkCountryLawyer links to the Judge's order itself (PDF), in which the Judge notes that he may (in NYCL's words) "have overlooked managing Eighth Circuit authority, the case of national Car Rental v. compatible Associates, which held that you can't have a violation of the 'distribution right' without an 'actual dissemination of copies or phonorecords.'" Update: 05/15 18:54 GMT by T : Note that while the linked story as well as Jay Maynard's summary use the term "upload," Thomas wasn't uploading the files themselves, only making them available.

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Mark