From Wired News’s Threat Level blog:

A federal judge is awarding Tanya Andersen, who defeated the Recording Industry Association of America’s file sharing lawsuit, $108,000 in legal fees to compensate for defending herself against the RIAA.

The award, made public Wedesday by U.S. District Judge James A. Redden of Oregon, marks the second time that a target of the RIAA who beat a lawsuit was awarded attorney’s fees. In August, a federal judge ordered the RIAA to pay $68,685 in litigation costs to two Oklahoma women whose case was dismissed.

Whether RIAA defendants who successfully defend such suits are automatically entitled to legal fees is on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The dispute is whether judges must award fees to a prevailing party under the Copyright Act.