Copying music, movies and software over the Internet using BitTorrent is now quite common. Sandvine recently published information on how widely the main traffic applications are widely used, and BitTorrent is rated as upstream application number 1, downstream application number 4 and general application number 4 for Netflix, YouTube and HTTP. Worst of all, many people don’t even know that it’s illegal to use BitTorrent or other file-sharing programs to copy content. Given this background, it is not surprising that copyright owners are becoming increasingly aggressive about what they are going after accessing files on the Internet.
While file sharing trials began several years ago on the basis of music sharing with services such as Napster, Grokster and LimeWire, the vast majority of mass copyrights are now focused on BitTorrent. Torrent lawsuits usually take the form of a copyright holder, requiring multiple “John Doe” or “Doe” protections. Defenders are called John Doe, because the copyright owner knows them only by their individual IP addresses. However, after the commencement of the trial, the copyright holder may obtain permission from the Court to issue a subpoena regarding the Internet provider (s) of the various trustees in the case. In accordance with agendas, Internet service providers will be asked for identification and contact information for the cases, including each one. name and address, and usually a phone number and an email address.
If you received a letter to the court on call informing you that your information will be passed on to the mass petition for copyright protection in the near future, you and your family are under severe stress. In addition, there is a lot of controversial information on the Internet - most of them are not published by lawyers or lawyers who have little understanding of any of these types of lawsuits. In addition, most online sources do not actually provide practical recommendations. Below is a plan of action that I recommend to customers, and hopefully it can help you resolve your copyright claim.
Act
1. Do not ignore the letter to the court. Make no mistake about this - you are accused of copyright infringement by copying content over the Internet, and the copyright owner has filed a lawsuit. This is not a laugh. There are many bad tips on the Internet that say you can simply ignore the letter to the court. However, defaults exceeding a million dollars ($ 1,000,000) were presented in several lawsuits involving file sharing, where they chose to ignore letters to the court. Ignoring a letter in an ISP call can literally ruin your life — don't do it.
2. Act quickly. Address your ISP call letter seriously, and move right away. In each case, the key parameter of your action plan is whether you will fight the claim or agree. You will want to determine this before the day when your ISP turns your information into the copyright holder. In particular, if the copyright owner is forbidden to publish it publicly, the copyright owner will be free to do so as soon as he receives your information, which gives the copyright owner additional influence on you (especially if the content you are copying is pornographic). Similarly, obtaining information about file sharing is expensive for copyright owners - this requires a successful subpoena. Once your name is "there," it is much more likely that the second copyright holder will decide to pursue you.
3. Get the facts. The first step in determining whether you want to fight this case or decide whether it is to determine whether the complaints that were filed against you are true. Here is a checklist for your investigation:
General reference questions
- Who are the computer users in your home?
- Of all the computer users, are some of them younger than 18?
- Do you or anyone else in your family copy content over the Internet?
Common computer issues
- What is the brand and model of computers in your home, including desktops, laptops, servers, smart TVs, gaming platforms, digital media players, including DVD players, Blu-ray players, gaming consoles, handheld gaming devices, smart phones and tablets.
- Is the BitTorrent client installed on any computer in the house? If so, which ones?
- Is antivirus software installed on any computer in the house? If so, which ones?
- Who is your broadband internet provider?
- Who is your cable or satellite provider?
- Who is your wireless service provider?
Network issues
- Is your network fully connected or have a wireless router?
Wireless Router Issues
- What different networks are configured for wireless access? For example, a “full access” network and a “guest” network are usually established.
- Does every network have a password or is it open?
- For each network with a password, who knows the password?
- Does the router maintain a network access log and does it show any inexplicable activity?
Based on your research, you must collect a picture of what actually happened. Have you or anyone in your family actually used BitTorrent to copy copyrighted content? If so, who did it? Is it possible that your computer was hacked? If yes, do you have evidence that can support it?
4. Contact a lawyer. A qualified lawyer can explain your options in much more detail than a short article like this. In addition, if you decide to negotiate a deal, a lawyer can organize your identity to be kept secret from copyright. Most importantly, a qualified lawyer can advise you on the right approach to your case.
Ideally, you would want to contact a lawyer to (1) execute a number of these lawsuits, (2) be able to initiate a case other than “negotiating settlement”, and (3) are allowed to practice in your state and in a particular United States district court in which you live.
First, file sharing cases, based on them, are immersed in copyright infringement. Most lawyers will never and never deal with issues of copyright infringement and do not know the specific features of claims related to copyright infringement. Accordingly, it is illegal that a lawyer who has requested bodily harm for someone you know is the right choice to consider such a claim. The same can be said of a lawyer who makes claims or divorces from DUI.
Secondly, many intellectual property lawyers who are familiar with copyright law rarely, if in fact, ever dispute matters. Accordingly, they will not feel the real dynamics of your case, for example, how experienced the attorney of the other party is, how reasonable the settlement is, etc.
Thirdly, a lawyer can only deal with a court in which he / she is allowed. For example, lawsuits in my firm go to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois. While most file sharing cases are resolved without serious litigation, your case may require serious litigation - if your change attorney is not allowed to go to court, he / she will need to keep the local attorney, who will add to their costs.
5. Ask your lawyer to ask for a request. As soon as you know what the author’s kiosk wants, you and your lawyer can determine the best approach to your case. In particular, if the requirement is low enough, consider paying for it or continuing negotiations with your lawyer. On the other hand, if the demand is high, your lawyer can advise you if you can win. You should be aware that copyright litigation will be quite expensive. Many firms, such as my firm, offer ordinary families who are forced to judge these preferential terms so that they can fight the claim if necessary. In addition, if you win your claim, the claimant may have to pay your attorneys. fees.
If you received a letter with an ISP call, there is no doubt that you are under great stress. Undoubtedly, you want to solve this problem as soon as possible. However, it is important to approach this decision carefully and to no avail. I hope that the action plan that I have outlined will help you with this.
