Intellectual Property Rights Holders Association Blog

According to a BBC report in 2008, the digital file sharing company, Torrentspy was ordered to pay over $110 million dollars to the Motion Pictures Association of America only weeks after the site had been officially shut down. This ruling is one of the largest fines executed for copyright theft, and was handed down by U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper. The ruling also stated that TorrentSpy had to pay $30,000 for “each of the 3,699 infringements shown”. The MPAA first began its proceedings against torrent spy in early 2006. BBC News reported that Torrentspy was responsible for the facilitation of sharing copyright files illegally by hosting a compilation of links to films and music. Torrentspy used a legal file-sharing technology referred to as Bit-Torrent, a way of exchanging large files electronically without utilizing central servers. After the ruling took place, Dan Glickman, the chairman of MPAA explained, “This substantial money judgment sends a strong message about the illegality of these sites.” The MPAA’s actions although legitmate due to a study by the organization, billions of dollars are lost annually due to sites such as TorrentSpy. Nevertheless, TorrentSpy has appealed the current judgment according to Cnet News. Although the site was used for pirated films and television shows, Torrentspy claims the site was also used for legitimate purposes. According to Ira Rothken, TorrentSpy’s attorney, “We’re arguing the court was wrong in procedures and wrong in judgment. In a one-hour hearing regarding discovery issues, the court terminated the case and didn’t give TorrentSpy a trial. We believe the court was wrong and abused its discretion. We believe the court ordered TorrentSpy to do things that (were) in violation of the site’s privacy policy, and we believe that the tension between the court’s discovery orders and user privacy rights is an important issue on appeal.” However, the MPAA firmly still believes that TorrentSpy is responsible for mass copyright infringement. Further judgment on this case is believed to be settled in the coming months.

Legal representative for BitTorrent site TorrentSpy deceided to appeal the $111M copyright infrigment judgement the site have been striked in May 2008 by the Motion Picture Association of Americain.  They claim that the court erred in its procedures and its judgment.

“The case was not decided on the merits of copyright issues whatsoever. U.S. rules of evidence conflict with European privacy standards, resulting in the judge ruling from the bench instead of letting the case go to trial.”

The judge ruled that TorrentSpy was guilty of vicarious copyright infringement, along with inducing and contributing to such acts, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. The court issued an order barring TorrentSpy from operation.

They are asking the 9th Circuit of Appeals in Northern California to overturn the judge’s ruling and set a trial.