Copyright Troll Defense

In recent years, a spate of copyright owners (most notably pornography producers like Malibu Media) have begun to assert their intellectual property rights in a calculated campaign to initiate mass litigations.  Using off-shore “investigative” technology companies, “copyright trolls” target BitTorrent (and other file-sharing programs) users and bring copyright infringement suits against them.  In many cases, the trolls attach exhibits to the legal complaint citing a long list of embarrassing name titles, in the hopes of shaming an individual into settlement.  At first, these trolls must initiate a “John Doe” lawsuit, with only an individual’s internet protocol (IP) address as the identifier.  Through the power of the courts, these trolls subpoena internet service providers (ISPs) such as Comcast and Verizon into disclosing the identity of the subscriber assigned to the “infringing” IP address, with the intent to publicly identify the subscriber for the purposes of the suit.

While it is understandable that copyright owners seek compensation for infringements, the tactics in which some of these trolls operate can resemble an extortion scheme.  Unfortunately, because there have been no substantive rulings as to the trolls’ practices, these cases continue to be filed across the country at an excess of over 1000 cases per year.  If you or someone in your household has received a communication from your internet service provider that informs you that they have been ordered to provide information as to your identity, you should seek the advice of counsel immediately.  Our firm has dealt with these trolls in the past, and can assist and advise you in the proper course of action to take in a copyright infringement lawsuit.  Our firm can assist with the following services:

• Motions to quash
• Motions to dismiss
• Settlement negotiations
• Copyright litigation discovery and defense