Illegal downloaders could be in studios’ sights under the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.As reported by News Limited, Wikileaks has posted what it says is a leaked version of the agreement, that would compel service providers to hand over the details of illegal downloaders to rights holders.
Service providers would also be required to keep track of persistent pirates and alert rights holders, News Limited reported, with the leaked document stating it wants all countries signed up to make it easier for rights holders to take copyright infringers to court and seek undisclosed damages.
The document states liability would be dependent of the nature of the infringement, with a “pre-established damages” framework to be put in place that “would be sufficient to compensate the right holder for the harm caused by the infringement, and with a view to deterring future infringements”, News Limited reported.
Copyright infringement has been a hot topic this year, with Dallas Buyers Club LLC taking iiNet and a number of other Australian ISPs to court earlier in the year seeking the details of customers alleged to have shared the film Dallas Buyers Club online.
In a landmark Federal Court of Australia ruling in April, Justice Perram ruled in favour of Dallas Buyers Club LLC’s (DBC) application for preliminary discovery, ordering the ISPs divulge the names and physical addresses of the customers.
Justice Perram, however, placed the condition that a draft of any letter proposed to be sent to account holders first be submitted to the court for approval.
DBC suffered a setback in August, with Justice Perram ruling it could not send proposed letters to alleged copyright offenders, declining to lift a stay on the discovery order.
DBC will need to meet a number of requirements, including lodging of a $600,000 bond, if the stay is to be lifted.
Against this backdrop, the Communications Alliance earlier in the year developed a new code of practice for dealing with internet piracy in Australia, under which alleged offenders would receive an escalating series of notices, comprising an education notice, a warning notice and a final notice, however the code has yet to be put in place.
