Internet Piracy: Dallas Buyers Club LLC

UPDATE FEB 2016 – This case is now over. Read our new article: Internet Piracy: The Dallas Buyers Club Case is Over

In a landmark decision, the Federal Court of Australia has today ruled in favour of Dallas Buyers Club LLC’s preliminary discovery application against several Internet Service Providers.

iiNet have 28 days to appeal the decision before the Full Court of the Federal Court.

What does this mean?

It means that iiNet, Dodo, Internode, Amnet Broadband, Adam Internet and Wideband Networks must hand over the identities of 4,726 account holders whose IP addresses were logged allegedly downloading the movie, Dallas Buyers Club, using peer-to-peer file sharing software called BitTorrent.

It also sets the precedent that people in Australia who illegally download and share copyrighted material will now run the risk of having their identities revealed to the copyright holder.

The details to be handed over include the names, residential addresses and email of those persons whose internet connections were allegedly used to download the film.

As such, it is likely that any person whose internet service was used to download the movie will receive a letter from Dallas Buyers Club LLC’s Australian lawyers (Marque Lawyers) threatening legal action for breach of copyright.

If you receive one of these letters and require legal assistance please contact us immediately.

If you have any questions about copyright please do not hesitate to contact our Commercial Litigation Team.