Dallas Buyers Club LLC v iiNet Limited [2015] FCA 317

Dallas Buyers Club LLC v iiNet Limited [2015] FCA 317

The applicants satisfied the requirements of Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) r 7.22 for preliminary discovery; ISPs are to divulge names and addresses of account holders associated with specified IP addresses used for infringing copyright via BitTorrent. Discovery is conditioned on the information only being used for recovering compensation for infringement and not for speculative invoicing or further disclosure without leave of the Court. Draft communications with account holders must be submitted to the Court for approval.

Parties
First Prospective Applicant: Dallas Buyers Club LLC; Second Prospective Applicant: Voltage Pictures LLC; First Respondent: iiNet Limited; Second Respondent: Internode Pty Ltd; Third Respondent: Amnet Broadband Pty Ltd; Fourth Respondent: Dodo Services Pty Ltd; Fifth Respondent: Adam Internet Pty Ltd; Sixth Respondent: Wideband Networks Pty Ltd
Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
07 April 2015
Procedural Posture
Preliminary Discovery Application / Reserved Judgment Following Interlocutory Hearing
Outcome
Preliminary discovery granted with conditions; further orders to be made at subsequent listing.
Legal Topics
Copyright Infringement, Preliminary Discovery (identification of Respondents), Bit Torrent File Sharing, Statutory Privacy Obligations of Isps, Misleading Conduct Re Speculative Invoicing, Standing to Sue for Copyright Infringement, Discretion in Preliminary Discovery, Discovery and Privacy Limitations
Intellectual Property Civil Procedure Privacy Copyright Infringement Preliminary Discovery (identification of Respondents) Bit Torrent File Sharing Statutory Privacy Obligations of Isps Misleading Conduct Re Speculative Invoicing +3 more

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Parties

Dallas Buyers Club LLC

First Prospective Applicant

Voltage Pictures LLC

Second Prospective Applicant

iiNet Limited

First Respondent

Internode Pty Ltd

Second Respondent

Amnet Broadband Pty Ltd

Third Respondent

Dodo Services Pty Ltd

Fourth Respondent

Adam Internet Pty Ltd

Fifth Respondent

Wideband Networks Pty Ltd

Sixth Respondent

Procedural Posture

Preliminary Discovery Application / Reserved Judgment Following Interlocutory Hearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the applicants are entitled to preliminary discovery to ascertain identities of alleged copyright infringers using BitTorrent
  2. 2 Whether the respondents (ISPs) must disclose names and addresses of customers linked to specified IP addresses
  3. 3 Whether evidence sufficed to meet requirements for preliminary discovery under Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) r 7.22

Ratio Decidendi

The applicants satisfied the requirements of Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) r 7.22 for preliminary discovery; ISPs are to divulge names and addresses of account holders associated with specified IP addresses used for infringing copyright via BitTorrent. Discovery is conditioned on the information only being used for recovering compensation for infringement and not for speculative invoicing or further disclosure without leave of the Court. Draft communications with account holders must be submitted to the Court for approval.

Court Disposition

Preliminary discovery granted with conditions; further orders to be made at subsequent listing.

Orders

  • Matter listed on 21 April 2015 for form of orders.
  • ISPs to divulge names and physical addresses of account holders associated with specified IP addresses.