Caught in the Hurt Locker: Illegal Downloaders to Pay Up

2012-03-01

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CAUGHTINTHEHURTLOCKER:ILLEGALDOWNLOADERSTOPAYUP
VINCENTBERGERON*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

AfterfilingsimilarproceduresintheUnitedStatesandtheUnitedKingdom,the
Americanmoviestudio,VoltagePicturesLLC,copyrightownerofthemovieTheHurt
Locker,isnowprosecutingCanadianInternetuserswhoillegallymadethemovie
availablefordownloadthroughtheBitTorrentprotocol.Thestudioisclaimingasum
of$1,500fromeachdefendant.

Todate,nearlythirtyindividualsresidinginQuebechavereceivedaletterfrom
VoltagePicturesaskingforpaymentunderpenaltyofprosecution[AlainMcKenna,
«TéléchargementdeTheHurtLocker:desinternautescanadienspoursuivis»,28
novembre2011,http://technaute.cyberpresse.ca/nouvelles/internet/201111/28/01-
4472247-telechargement-de-the-hurt-locker-des-internautes-canadiens-
poursuivis.php].

IdentificationofUsers
VoltagePicturesfirstidentifiedtheIPaddressescorrespondingtotheindividualswho,
accordingtothestudio,illegallycopiedanddistributedthemovie.TheseIP
addressesareuniqueaddressesassociatedwitheachofthemodemsprovidedby
Internetserviceproviders,whichallowtheuserstohaveaccesstotheInternet.
VoltagePicturesthenturnedtowardstheFederalCourtinordertoobtaintheidentity
oftheInternetuserswhowereaffiliatedwiththoseIPaddresses.

InAugust2011,theFederalCourtissuedanorder
[VoltagePicturesLLCv.Untel,
2011CF1024],inwhichtheInternetserviceprovid
ersBellCanada,CogecoCâble,
andVidéotronwereorderedtodisclosetheidentity
oftheirclientswhowereaffiliated
withtheIPaddressesidentifiedbyVoltagePicture
s.Followingtheissuanceofthis
order,VoltagePictureswasabletosendformalnoticestonearlythirtyQuebec
Internetusers,whoseidentitieshadbeenrevealed
bytheirInternetserviceproviders.

However,theidentificationoftheactualindividua
lswhohavedownloadedtheillegal
contentwillbedifficulttoassess.Indeed,theproliferationofsharednetworks
betweenfamilymembers,roommates,colleagues,neighboursorinpublicareas,will
maketheidentificationoftherealinfringervery
difficult.

PotentialConsequencesforUsers

©CIPS,2012.
*FromROBIC,LLP,multidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheWinter201
2(Vol.15,no.4)Newsletterofthefirm.Publication068.145E.

TheindividualswhoreceivedaformalnoticefromV
oltagePicturesnowfacetwovery
unappealingalternatives.Theymusteitherpaythe$1,500fine,asrequested,orthe
legalfeesrequiredtocontesttheprocedures,andthuspotentiallyfacestatutory
damagesfrom$500upto$20,000,inaccordancewiththeCopyrightAct.Theseare
considerablesums,giventhatitgenerallycostsbetween$20and$30toobtaina
legalcopyofthemovie.
SimilarProcedurestoCome
IfBillC-11,whichseeksaCopyrightActreform,wastobeadoptedinitscurrentform,
thestatutorydamagesapplicabletonon-commercialinfringementswouldbelimited
to$5,000.However,itwouldbesurprisingtoexpectcopyrightownerstobe
dissuadedfromseekingcourtorders,allowingthemtoobtaintheidentityofthe
Internetusersthathaveillegallydownloadedtheirworkinviewofsuchalimit.The
receiptofaformaldemandlettercouldindeedbesufficientinseveralcasesto
persuadeindividualstopaytherequestedsumsquickly,inordertoavoidfurtherlegal
proceedings.
InlightofthecourtorderissuedbytheFederalCourt,individualssharingillegalfiles
ontheInternetcannolongerexpecttohidebehindtheguiseoftheirIPaddressesto
avoidlegalproceedings,despitethefactthattheycannotbedirectlyidentifiedbythe
distributorsofcopyrightedworks.Thisdecision,combinedwiththeriseofnewlegal
servicesfortheelectronicdistributionofworksinCanada,couldthereforehelpto
addresstheissueofillegalfilesharinginthefuture.

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