Village Roadshow wins battle over illegally downloading in Australia

[grimm]

AUSTRALIAN telco companies have been ordered to block piracy sites.

The Federal Court ruled in favour of film distributor Village Roadshow which brought legal proceedings against telco services to force them to block domain names for services used to illegally download movies and other programs.

Federal Court Justice John Nicholas on Friday ordered internet providers, including Telstra, Optus, TPG and Vocus, to take "reasonable steps" to disable access to 42 websites that breach copyright laws, such as Pirate Bay, within 15 days.

"In respect of all the online locations, the evidence establishes that each of those locations has facilitated infringement of copyright in one or more of the Roadshow Films," Justice Nicholas said.

Village Roadshow alleged the websites used to illegally download movies and other programs are located overseas but are accessible to Australians using the carriage service providers.

It alleged the owners or operators of the website reproduced, made available or electronically transmitted works including The Lego Movie, Kingsman: The Secret Services and episodes of The Big Bang Theory without a licence or authority.


The Lego Batman Movie. Picture: Warner Bros. Pictures
Co-chief executive of Village Roadshow Graham Burke said the Federal Court judgement would help save hundreds of millions of dollars in the film industry.

"It is a major development and a historical moment for Australians," Mr Burke told AAP on Friday.

"For the case of Australia if this wasn't addressed there would be no Lion, there will be no Red Dog, there just wouldn't be a business model to make any films."

A Telstra spokesman said the telco would comply with the court orders.

"Online copyright infringement is a serious issue," the spokesman said.

"We support flexible, fair and workable approaches to reduce online infringement and protect intellectual property."

WHAT THE FILM STUDIO ALLEGED:

* Pirate websites are located overseas but are accessible to Australians using carriage service providers including Telstra, Optus, TPG and Vocus

* The owners or operators of the sites reproduced, made available or electronically transmitted movies and other programs without a licence or authority

* The sites infringed copyright in thirteen films and TV series, including The Lego Movie, Kingsman: The Secret Service and The Big Bang Theory.

WHAT THE FEDERAL COURT DECIDED:

* Federal Court ordered the internet providers to take "reasonable steps" to disable access to 42 websites that breach copyright laws within 15 days

A GLIMPSE OF THE 42 SITES TO BE BLOCKED:

* KissCartoon

* WatchSeries

* Torrent Downloads

* MegaShare

* Piratebay.to

* Putlockers.ch