file-sharing

'Hurt Locker' lawyers continue antipiracy fight

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, the law firm that has filed copyright complaints against thousands of accused illegal file sharers on behalf of independent filmmakers this year, is getting some important help.

DGW, which also operates under the name U.S. Copyright Group, has recruited lawyers from as many as 23 U.S. states to file lawsuits against thousands of suspected film pirates in local courts, according to Thomas Dunlap, the firm's co-founder and one of the participating attorneys.

DGW represents about a dozen movie makers, including the producers of Oscar winning film, "The Hurt Locker." Last month, … Read more

Big media fails to turn ISPs into copyright cops

Last month marked the second anniversary since the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group representing the four largest music labels, stopped filing copyright lawsuits against people suspected of illegal file sharing.

At the time, the RIAA said it would seek help in copyright enforcement efforts from Internet service providers, the Web's gatekeepers, which are uniquely positioned to act as copyright cops. Under a proposed RIAA plan, ISPs would first issue warning letters and gradually increase pressure on customers who illegally shared songs, and even suspend or permanently terminate service for repeat offenders. RIAA execs said then that … Read more

ISP won't reveal names of alleged porn pirates

Time Warner Cable, one of the nation's largest Internet service providers, has refused to turn over customers accused in a lawsuit by Larry Flynt Publishing of pirating one of the company's porn films, according to Flynt's attorney.

In October, Dallas-based attorney Evan Stone filed three separate lawsuits against more than 4,000 "John Does," alleging the defendants illegally shared the movie "This Ain't Avatar XXX." The copyright suit was filed on behalf of Larry Flynt Publishing (LFP), which oversees Flynt's adult-entertainment empire, including Hustler magazine.

"If you're a pirate … Read more

New York City to citizens: Web piracy kills jobs

New York City, the nation's largest city and its true media capital, is telling citizens that "piracy doesn't work" as part of a new publicly funded antipiracy ad campaign.

The message to New Yorkers is that downloading music and movies without paying for them "kills jobs" in the city. The ads will appear at bus shelters, movie theaters, on the Web and on the video screens found in taxicabs, according to Katherine Oliver, commissioner of media and entertainment for the city of New York.

The costs of running the campaign are minimal because the … Read more

Mass antipiracy suits looks less certain

The chances that independent filmmakers and porn studios can find a cost effective way to sue thousands of alleged film pirates appears less likely with each passing day.

Last week, lawyers representing producers of the B-film "Far Cry" dropped more than 4,500 people from a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C. that accused them of illegally sharing the movie via the Internet.

What prompted the removal of defendants from the suit was a decision by Rosemary Collyer, the judge in the case, who said she wanted to finally rule on whether her court … Read more

MPAA, RIAA: Lawsuits won't protect content

Lawyers representing independent filmmakers, including the studio that produced Oscar-winner "The Hurt Locker," might learn something from a document filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce today by music, television, and film industry trade groups.

The Commerce Department recently sent out a request for information, known as a "Notice of Information," on "copyright policy, creativity, and innovation in the Internet economy." What the Commerce Department intends to do with the information it obtains was unclear this afternoon, but it did receive a response from nine trade groups representing the entertainment sector. In that … Read more

Indie filmmakers to refile piracy suits

There appears to be plenty of fight left in Thomas Dunlap, the lawyer who has filed lawsuits against thousands suspected of illegal file sharing this year on behalf of independent film studios, including the makers of the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker."

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver (DGW) set out in February to force people accused of pirating films made by his clients to compensate them for their losses. That goal has lately appeared to be in peril.

Yesterday, DGW dropped more than 4,400 defendants from a lawsuit filed earlier this year in federal court on behalf of … Read more

Little juice left in Lime Wire

The long saga of the Lime Wire company appears to be close to an ending.

The maker of the popular LimeWire file-sharing software--a peer-to-peer setup along the lines of the original Napster--has announced that at the beginning of next year, it will cease business, as originally reported by Peter Kafka at All Things Digital.

Owing to a copyright complaint filed against it in 2006 by the Recording Industry Association of America, Lime Wire had already been ordered in October of this year to shut down its peer-to-peer service. But, following Napster's example, it had previously opened a legitimate online music subscription service, … Read more

Google to do more piracy fighting with search

Google, once considered by some media companies as a rogue actor on the issue of copyright, is stepping up antipiracy efforts, the company said today.

On Google's public policy blog, Kent Walker, the company's general counsel wrote:

•  We'll act on reliable copyright take-down requests within 24 hours. We will build tools to improve the submission process to make it easier for rights holders to submit DMCA takedown requests for Google products (starting with Blogger and Web Search). And for copyright owners who use the tools responsibly, we'll reduce our average response time to 24 hours … Read more