A decade of lawsuits, particularly in the US, has failed to curb the vast scale of copyright infringing activity occurring on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. In Australia, last year’s iiNet decision arguably shields internet service providers (ISPs) against claims by copyright owners that, by failing to take action against their infringing subscribers, ISPs authorise those infringements. As a result of this decision (currently the subject of an appeal), many Australian ISPs now simply forward infringement notices received from rights holders to users, or take no action at all.Time for a fresh approach?Last month, TMT blog was fortunate to attend a ‘drinks and conversation’ function with Daniel Gervais, Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University, and Eddie Schwartz, musician, songwriter and record producer. The function was jointly hosted by the Intellectual Property Research Institute of Australia (IPRIA) and Melbourne Law School’s Centre for Media and Communications Law (CMCL).
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Re-thinking peer-to-peer file sharing: charging the pirates for the ship and not the plunder
A decade of lawsuits, particularly in the US, has failed to curb the vast scale of copyright infringing activity occurring on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. In Australia, last year’s iiNet decision arguably shields internet service providers (ISPs) against claims by copyright owners that, by failing to take action against their infringing subscribers, ISPs authorise those infringements. As a result of this decision (currently the subject of an appeal), many Australian ISPs now simply forward infringement notices received from rights holders to users, or take no action at all.