The Full Bench of the Federal Court found in favour of iiNet last week, defeating an appeal by several major film and television studios with the assistance of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT). They alleged that iiNet had authorised the infringing activities of some of its users who engaged in illegal peer-to-peer file sharing
The first instance decision in favour of iiNet was handed down in February 2010, and the case was subsequently appealed. The litigation has been keenly observed in Australia and around the world, as online copyright infringement continues to erode the revenue streams of creative industries such as music and film
This may not be the end of the matter, however, as the film and television studios may well seek special leave to appeal the Federal Court decision to the High Court
For more information about this decision, please see: http://www.copyright.org.au/news-and-policy/show-news/id/1893/ For inquiries relating to copyright law please contact Adam Simpson.