The makers of the movie Dallas Buyers Club have been seeking redress from nearly five thousand people in Australia who have allegedly downloaded their movie illegally. In April of 2015, Voltage Pictures won the right to obtain the IP addresses of the supposed pirates, but the court put very strict conditions on that ruling, saying that any communication between the studio and the downloaders had to pass inspection by the court, and the studio would have to put up a $600,000 bond to prevent "speculative invoices" from the studio. The entire bond would be forfeit if one such message was sent out.
In the most recent ruling, Justice Nye Perram of the Federal Court, issued an order to terminate the proceedings on the 11th of February, 2016 after rejecting the latest proposal by Voltage Pictures to deal with the more than 4,700 internet users it claimed had pirated the movie. The studio can appeal the decision, but from the statements by the judge, it doesn't seem to be worth more effort. Voltage Pictures wanted to not only fine each person who allegedly downloaded the film, but to also charge them for the cost of legally buying a copy, add a charge for a rental fee, and tack on a license fee for uploading it. Voltage Pictures also wanted compensation for the costs of discovery of information from the internet service providers.
Voltage Pictures also argued that each person would have to pay for a “worldwide non-exclusive distribution agreement," since they shared the movie on bittorrent sites like the Pirate Bay and Kickass Torrents.
“On this factual question, I concluded that DBC’s contention was wholly unrealistic; indeed, I went so far as to describe it as surreal,” wrote Justice Perram in his judgement.
You can read more on the story at The Guardian.
