Have you received a scary-sounding letter from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or a film studio alleging that you or someone on your internet connection downloaded one or more films illegally? If so, you might be caught up in a new copyright infringement data gathering strategy by a film studio now being used to find alleged infringers the State of Colorado. An independent film studio is utilizing an often ignored part of the law to try to find people sharing movies illegally using Bit Torrent in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. They seem to be using a DMCA 512(h) subpoena – using your Internet Protocol (IP) address, the film studio can request your ISP to hand over your info like name, address, email, and even your computer’s MAC address. Then, once they have the information from your ISP, they studio can then file a federal copyright infringement lawsuit or send a strongly worded notice of infringement emailed to you or sent via courier. While unique, the studio’s strategy is not perfect in identifying infringers.
In Colorado, Capstone Studios, the studio that produced “Boy Kills World” appears to be using the above strategy to identify alleged copyright infringers throughout the state. Did you receive a letter or notice in case 24-mc-101 or 24-mc-102? Do you think you might be on their list? If you or someone in your household are using torrents on your phone or on your home computer to download movies, you could be a target.
Did you receive a letter from your ISP or a lawyer? If so, it is always better call a lawyer yourself – it might save you a lot of trouble. Our attorneys offer free consultations and can help you resolve your copyright infringement dispute with the studios.
