Movie production company Capstone Studios has obtained a DMCA subpoena requiring internet provider CenturyLink to identify 150 suspected BitTorrent pirates. Selected IP addresses are suspected of sharing a copy of the "Fall" movie. While the DMCA shortcut is not indisputable, it appears to be quite effective, at least for now.
Tracking BitTorrent pirates is not that difficult since IP addresses are publicly broadcast. With the help of Internet providers, these addresses can be linked to an account holder.
ISPs do not hand over this data voluntarily; they usually require a subpoena or court order to take action.
In the United States, these subpoenas are typically obtained by filing a copyright lawsuit in federal court against a "John Doe" known only by an IP address. Most of these cases are brought against a single person, which makes it a relatively expensive process.
The filing fee for these cases is over $400 and there is no guarantee that any money will be recovered. Some rights holders believe this admission fee is money well spent, but others are prepared to try alternative routes.
Capstone Studios targets 150 IP addresses
film producer cornerstone Studios is one such rights holder. The company decided to take action when it noted that its survival thriller โFallโ, which he co-produced with BuzzFeed, was widely pirated through various torrent sites.
To stop these breaches, Capstone sent takedown notices to ISPs whose customer IP addresses appeared in public swarms. These warning notices, sent through the Cyprus-based company PML Process Managementthey were meant to be forwarded to the linked subscriber accounts.
"We respectfully request that you stop infringing and redistributing Capstone Studios Corp.'s copyrighted content, and that you take appropriate steps to secure your Internet so that others do not infringe and redistribute our content as well," it reads.
The enforcement effort did not end there. A few days ago, Capstone filed for a DMCA subpoena in a Colorado federal court. The request points to 150 IP addresses that are linked to allegedly 'infringing' Centurylink accounts.
The employee logs off
These types of summons do not require a court hearing and are usually signed by a clerk. That is also the case here. Within days, Capstone's request was granted, meaning internet provider Centurylink, also known as lumensYou must provide the data of the subscribers.
The list of IP addresses reveals that the targeted subscribers are not limited to Colorado. They are spread all over the United States, including Chicago, Denver, Miami, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.
This shows that, with a relatively simple request, the film production company can identify 150 suspected pirates. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if these people receive a settlement offer in the near future.
The legal paperwork does not mention any concrete plans and simply states that personal data "will be used only for the purpose of protecting the rights granted to the copyright owner."
Indisputable shortcut?
To a layperson unfamiliar with the history of DMCA subpoenas, this may sound like a logical process and much cheaper than filing a federal case. While the latter is true, the practice of identifying large groups of suspected BitTorrent pirates in this way is not indisputable.
Two decades ago, the RIAA used a similar tactic to go after large groups of people who share files. The music group opted to file DMCA subpoenas to save costs, but encountered resistance from ISPs.
At the time, Internet providers argued that DMCA subpoenas are only valid when an Internet service hosts or links to the infringing content, not when it simply transmits traffic. Several courts have agreed with this line of reasoning and the practice was essentially banned in the early 2000s.
If copyright holders wanted to identify the suspected pirates, they would have to file a complaint in federal court and request a regular subpoena there, as many have done since.
Capstone Studios' legal representative, Kerry Culpepper, is aware of the court history, but argues in the filing that the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, to which Colorado belongs, has never ruled on the issue of "mere conduit ' in a case like this. Therefore, it is an open question.
In addition, the lawyer argues that the most recent decisions suggest that DMCA subpoenas may apply in these cases. For example, in repeat infringer cases against ISPs like Cox and Grande, courts have found that DMCA notices are valid and apply to conduit providers.
More common?
Whether this line of reasoning applies to DMCA subpoenas is something that needs to be proven in court, but Centurylink doesn't appear to be protesting so far.
While the use of DMCA subpoenas against pirate subscribers is relatively rare, Culpepper has managed to obtain several in recent years. The ones we've seen are all targeting Centurylink and targeting a growing number of IP addresses.
The first application last year was aimed at 13 alleged pirates, increasing to 40 subscribers a few weeks later. Late last year, another DMCA subpoena was listed 63 subscriberswhile the last request refers to 150 IP addresses.
It is unknown what the rights holders did with the information obtained through these previous subpoenas. Once approved by the court, all follow-up activity takes place behind closed doors.
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A copy of the DMCA subpoena request is available here (pdf) and the signed summons can be found here (pdf).
