Class action lawsuits and movie downloads

Class action lawsuits and movie downloads

Class Action Lawsuits and Movie downloads

In the last few years, major production and film companies have filed class action lawsuits against Canadian households for allegedly uploading and downloading movies.

In their lawsuits filed in the Federal Court of Canada, some of these lawsuits have claimed that movies have been illegally streamed and shared with other users.

For instance, one such production company is Outpost Productions, Inc.

The torrent sites alleged to have been used for the downloads includes P2P sites like BitTorrent, uTorrent, Deluge, Vuze, and others.

Torrenting sites such as BitTorrent and others are searchable websites that index torrents that are uploaded by users. Torrents are used as a way to publish files over the internet.

In their statements of claim filed in the Federal Court of Canada, these production companies often make the following claims:

• Each defendant in the lawsuit has used BitTorrent to unlawfully share the movie (by downloading and uploading the movie);
• Each defendant has been identified by their internet protocol (or IP address);
• The dates of the alleged downloading/uploading have been noted by the production company;
• A first notice and second notice were issued to each defendant by the internet service provider (or ISP);
• The first and second notices were disregarded or ignored by each defendant.

What other claims does the lawsuit make?

There are a number of other claims that the lawsuit makes with respect to each defendant:

• Firstly, each defendant has breached s.3(f) of the Copyright Act, which states that it is unlawful to make copyrighted works public;
• Secondly, Each defendant has infringed the production company’s rights;
• Significant damages have been caused by the alleged infringement;

The lawsuit often relies on Rules 292-299 of the Federal Court Rules by indicating that the monetary relief that the production company seeks will not exceed $50,000.00.

What are my options for responding to the lawsuit?

If you have been on the receiving end of this lawsuit, you have a number of options. It is advisable that you do not ignore the lawsuit, as the production company can seek a default judgment in absence of your filed response.

The first step in understanding what your options are, is to ensure that you understand the facts that are being alleged in the lawsuit.

If you do not understand the facts that are being alleged, it is important to seek legal counsel as soon as possible.

If you have no knowledge of the lawsuit or if you feel the facts are in dispute, you should respond with a defence to the statement of claim, as soon as possible.

Regardless of what method you choose in responding to the class action lawsuit, seeking legal counsel should be your first step. If you have been listed as a “DOE” with an identifier number, we can help answer some questions you may have. Get in touch with us today at info@saidilawcorp.com. Call us today at 604-930-9578 or 1-800-930-9986.