Outpost Productions Lawsuit

Outpost Productions Lawsuit

Outpost Productions Lawsuit

A number of film companies, such as Outpost Productions, have served Canadian households with lawsuits alleging copyright infringement.

These lawsuits allege that a person within the household caused a movie to be shared publicly on the internet. What may happen is that a person within the household accesses a website that offers torrents for downloading. Popular torrent sites that are used are BitTorrent and uTorrent. While the movie is downloading, segments of the movie are uploaded for other BitTorrent and uTorrent users to download.

Additionally, once the movie is downloaded and uploaded, production companies use sophisticated software to determine where the downloads take place. Through an Order called a “Norwich order” production companies are able to determine which households have downloaded the movie. The Norwich order is an order applied for in the Federal Court of Canada. The Norwich order allows the production company to determine the Internet Protocol address (otherwise known as an IP address) used for downloading the movie. Once this order is approved in Federal Court, production companies contact concerned internet service providers (ISPs). Then, your ISP sends you a first warning letter regarding the alleged infringement. If the infringement letter is ignored, usually a second infringement letter is issued. If the second notice is ignored, a statement of claim is filed in Federal court (the lawsuit) and served onto the household.

Is the lawsuit legitimate?

Many Canadian households that have found themselves caught in the lawsuit and have turned to the internet to determine if these lawsuits are legitimate. These lawsuits filed in Federal Court are indeed legitimate.

It should be noted that deleting the movie in question or agreeing to legitimately pay for the movie in question will not negate the lawsuit.

The most important take-away from this lawsuit is to adequately file a response in Federal court to the lawsuit.

What steps should I take if I have been served with a lawsuit?

If you have been served you may take the following steps:

• • If you have been served but have no knowledge of the movie in question, you may want to speak to the other members living in your household
  • Second, you may want to speak to any tenants who are sharing your internet connection;
  • Third, you should review dates of the alleged infringement to determine if anyone else who may have visited your household, caused the infringement;
  • Fourth, you may want to review your emails and junk email folder to determine if any notices were issued to you by your ISP;
  • Fifth, you will want to get in touch with an experienced litigator who may draft a response to the lawsuit on your behalf.

Can I ignore the lawsuit?

For a number of reasons, ignoring the lawsuit is not a good idea:

• • • The production company can seek a default judgment if you do not respond to the lawsuit. A default judgment allows the production company to ask a Judge to award them a monetary judgment. That monetary judgment can be enforced against your personal assets (ie: your house and any other assets);
    • The alleged infringement may take place again, and you could be served with additional lawsuits from other production companies;
    • A default judgment could affect your personal finances in the future, particularly if a wage garnishment is successful. A wage garnishment occurs when the production company asks the court to systematically and routinely withdraw a portion of your wages in order to cover the monetary judgment that was successfully granted;

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

Regardless of what method you choose in responding to the 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. Call us today at 604-930-9578 or 1-800-930-9986.