iiNet wins High Court case

Some time ago, we reported on the case of Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd in which a number of film production companies from Australia and the US were taking iiNet to Court claiming that the ISP had infringed copyright by allowing its customers to illegally download films. The case caused quite a stir, and raised the serious issue of liability for ISPs around the country. Interestingly, iiNet won the initial Federal Court case, and the appeal, but Roadshow and the other production companies sought leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia in proceedings that commenced 24 March this year.

The wait for an outcome is finally over... and iiNet was once again successful in defending its position.

The High Court has found that iiNet did not authorise its customers to breach copyright when they downloaded copyright material like movies and television programs.

The Final Decision

In finalising the matter, on the 20 April 2012 the High Court of Australia unanimously held that:

  • iiNet had no involvement with the file-sharing system (i.e.BitTorrent) that enabled customers to download copyright material and had no power to control or change any part of it;
  • iiNet could only indirectly prevent primary infringements by terminating customers' contracts after being served an infringement notice issued by the copyright owners that contained sufficient evidence to prove infringement;
  • the information in the infringement notices that had been received from AFACT (the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft) was not enough of a basis for iiNet to send notices to customers warning them of the suspension or termination of their accounts;
  • iiNet's inactivity after receiving these notices did not mean that iiNet authorised the infringing activity.

For more information on the background to this long awaited decision click here to review our previous article.
The Future

There is no doubt that this decision was a big win for ISP's all over the country. But, this doesn't necessarily mean the end of the story, as AFACT may tweak and refine the notices issued to ISP's in the future.

However, right now, the High Court decision means that ISP's have no direct technical power to prevent their customers from using the BitTorrent file sharing system.

Many in the field have repeatedly argued that if licensed digital content were cheaper and more freely available, this may resolve the copyright issues of production companies and the like. In fact, iiNet Chief Executive Michael Malone, in his comments following the Court's decision noted that "Increasing the availability of licensed digital content is the best, most practical approach to meet consumer demand and protect copyright".

By having a portal within which to achieve this outcome, production companies, and the fans, will all no doubt be satisfied.