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iiNet wins copyright appeal against studios

The Federal Court has dismissed an appeal against internet service provider iiNet over internet piracy.

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The Federal Court has dismissed an appeal lodged against internet service provider iiNet.

The court heard the Roadshow Films Pty Ltd & Ors v iiNet Limited appeal last August.

In November 2008 Film Studios and the Seven Network had brought iiNet to court claiming it had “authorised” copyright infringement by its users who were alleged to have downloaded films and television using BitTorrent.

iiNet, which won the case, was subsequently taken to court on appeal by the studios, including Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Disney Enterprises and the Seven Network. The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has been prominent in the conduct of the claim on the studios’ behalf, but technically AFACT is not a party to the proceeding.

Michael Malone, CEO of iiNet, said that the Internet Service Provider has never supported
unauthorised sharing or file downloading.

“Today’s judgment again demonstrates that the allegations against us have been proven to be
unfounded.

“We urge the Australian film industry to address the growing demand for studio content to be
delivered in a timely and cost effective manner to consumers and we remain eager to work with
them to make this material available legitimately.”

The win for iiNet is a landmark ruling in the case of internet piracy in Australia but could yet proceed to the High Court. AFACT has 28 days to apply to the High Court to appeal the decision.

This post updates.

22 Responses

  1. @Clint – that reminded me of something. I lifted this quote from Wikipedia by Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America:

    “We are going to bleed and bleed and hemorrhage, unless this Congress at least protects one industry that is able to retrieve a surplus balance of trade and whose total future depends on its protection from the savagery and the ravages of this…”

    Sound familiar? It’s from 1982 and he was talking about the VCR, specifically Sony’s Betamax (so some irony there). Not one to shy away fro hyperbole, he went on to compare the machine with the Boston Strangler. Of course, once the studios dragged themselves out of the 1950s, the home movie market went on to become their greatest source of revenue.

    It almost beggars belief to learn that Valenti later went on to lobby for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the US claiming that now the internet was going to be the death of the studios. These people (movie industry suits) would appear to have no foresight or imagination, as evidenced by the mostly unoriginal and repetitive swill that they continue to clog the cinemas with.

  2. They only have themselves to blame. Release movies at the same time worldwide, and fast track the popular TV Shows, and people will have no need to download illegal movies and TV series.

    No, that makes sense. Instead, spend the money suing an ISP – which will never get up. Stop wasting money on going to court and spend it on getting productions on air or at the movies faster.

    Back before the internet really took hold, I remember friends used to get latest episodes of their favourite TV shows sent over to them on VHS from the states. I guess if that was the situation they should be suing not only Australia Post, but also the manufactures of blank VHS tapes. Oh wait, didn’t Sony make blank tapes? So if they owned an ISP…

  3. The big studios and Seven thought that they could use their not inconsiderable funds and legal muscle to bully a medium-sized ISP into submission and secure a legal precedent to shift the onus and cost of preventing copyright infringement onto someone else. Not content with this, they have been lobbying hard to have similar draconian measures written into the next Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the US.

    Downloading movies and other intellectual property for free is wrong but when the film studios and TV networks hang on to outdated distribution models and refuse to satisfy the demand that is clearly there in a timely manner, they shouldn’t be surprised if a portion of their potential audience obtains their entertainment from somewhere else.

    The stupid thing about this is that the music industry went thru this exact same scenario ten years ago, prosecuting children for downloading a couple of songs illegally and decrying about how lost earning were going to cause the collapse of the industry. They finally got their act together with iTunes and similar. Sony, at least should know better.

  4. @Craig: They cabal took on iiNet as they were seen as an “easy” target while still being fairly high-profile. The idea was to win and set a precedent that everyone else would be made to follow. Not a chance in hell they’d sue Optus or Telstra, because the legal juggernaut that would be thrown at them would likely be insurmountable. This is standard behaviour for the entertainment industry in these sorts of cases – go after the small (hopefully) defenceless fish.

    @Dan: no reimbursement of costs yet, not if they take it to the High Court. Which they undoubtedly will.

    It was another fair and rational decision today, proving that the law can and does get it right when it counts.

  6. Common sense prevails!

    @Craig

    “It would be like suing Australia Post if someone sends pirated DVDs in the post”

    I was going to make the exact same statement.

  7. That was a ridiculous idea. And what a waste of money on something that should be on the losing side of the argument. If you want people to watch then play it near instantaneously worldwide. That said some things I don’t mind waiting on. But I’m not a teenager. And speaking as a viewer I like watching things on TV if they don’t kill it with the timeslot and better still repeat things late at night. That way if I miss it I have a chance to keep up. As ironically I don’t bother with online options even if legal. Especially as iView was crapView for stuff less than 10 minutes the last time I tried it. I have never tried the other channels options. Don’t want to.

  8. @Greg, US Box office sales increased 8% last year. Still making record profits.

    arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/02/piracy-once-again-fails-to-get-in-way-of-record-box-office.ars

  9. Congrats to iinet and the consumer! Do they get reimbursed the court costs etc?

    Hopefully the studios fighting it and realise the best way for networks to discourage piracy is by fast tracking shows and producing more exclusive Australian content.

    Also many of the catch-up services are still inconvenient, horrible quality, missing shows and slow in updating. I’d happily pay for a Hulu service in Australia.

  10. It’s stupid anyway, why not sue Telstra, Optus or any of the other ISPs for the same offense? It would be like suing Australia Post if someone sends pirated DVDs in the post, stupid and pointless.

    Maybe the studios should look at them selves and I know things have improved with the digital channels and Pay TV but if they fast tracked new shows then people would not have a reason to go else where.

  13. wow, i cant even believe this made it to court, i mean its basically the same as my internet provider being taken to court because me and thousands of other user looked at wikileaks US embassy cables

  16. Just as it is not an electricity provider’s fault if someone is using DVD recorders (powered by said provider) to pirate films, nor is it an ISP’s responsibility if someone pirates using their Internet service.

    Although, I’m sure the fight from the film studios isn’t finished yet. They’ll drag iinet through more of this.

  17. make the content available legally and legitimately so everyone can get access to it. put up ads on the website so the right holders can make some money and so everyone can download any tv show movie or games they want for free.

  19. Even though I agree with the decision, it makes me wonder what type of films we will be getting in a few years. If there is no income from a film why make it.

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