I live in Colorado and have received the same letter from Comcast over the last two days. One from the post office and one from UPS. The letter basically states that Comcast has been subpoenaed to turn over the names and information for the six or eight IP addresses that were on the case for John Does. This is in reference to the movie Dallas Buyers Club and the company (Malibu Media) is going after everyone who has downloaded/shared the movie. I have read a lot of information about this and it seems that once they get your information, they will offer you a "cheap" settlement from $3,000 to $5,000 or risk going to court. My IP address is part of a class action suit against many people.
I have seen tons of information ranging from "just ignore it and the judge will probably not allow the information to be released" to "hire a lawyer immediately and quash this". I am also reading that this company is serious and has actually collected a lot of money over the last year.
To be totally forthright, I did actually try to download the movie to put on my wife's iPad as we were leaving for Hawaii. I had trouble for some reason and stopped the download after about 10 minutes. We were in a hurry so I ended up buying the movie and ripping it for her iPad. We had also recorded the movie on our DVR previously and had not had a chance to watch it yet. The movie is still on there actually!
So I am actually guilty of trying to download the movie, but was not successful. I guess I was connected long enough that my information was grabbed by these people and now they are coming after me. I really do not want to spend the money on a lawyer as their tactics seem very bogus. Can I file to quash this myself? I am sure there are documents online and instructions on how to do it. I don't think I should ignore it...but also do not want to spend a ton of money along the way.
I am a bit frazzled and have not told the wife about it yet. Her head is going to spin off.
Pleading for some good guidance here.
Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted Movie
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10-14-2015, 11:27 AMspaceace414Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted Movie
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10-14-2015, 12:03 PMflyingronRe: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted Movie
It's not a "class action" suit, but other than that you are right. At this point you can try to quash the release of your information via comcast. You can certainly consult a lawyer. I'm not familiar (nor can I find through searching the databases) any Colorado cases (nor is there any federal decisions that apply here). I suspect however, that the information is indeed discoverable.
Then the next step is what happens when they send you a bill for the movie you stole. Frankly, while you may not feel you were successful in downloading the movie, you apparently got some of it which is enough to be considered a copyright violation. If they actually do sue you, you do have more a defense in that an IP address download doesn't necessarily identify the person who committed the infringement and just because you were the subscriber doesn't necessarily make you responsible. Of course, that needs to be tempered by the fact that you appear to actually have committed the infringement alleged.
My suggestion is to ignore it until you actually get sued, then consult an attorney. -
10-14-2015, 12:32 PMspaceace414Re: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted MovieAh, you are correct. The wording is "Civil Action". Thanks for the reply.Quote:
Quoting flyingron
Still thinking about this. If filing a Quash by myself is easy to do, maybe I should do that. Ugh...but maybe you are right. Maybe ignoring until it hits the fan is the thing. I guess they are either going to aggressive pursue this or not and a quash may not help. -
10-14-2015, 02:15 PMadjusterjackRe: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted MovieDid you keep the receipt for the purchase of the movie?Quote:
Quoting spaceace414
If yes, you should eventually be OK.
If you didn't keep the receipt, I don't know what to tell you. -
10-14-2015, 02:17 PMflyingronRe: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted Movie
Receipt? They don't give you a receipt when you steal copyrighted material.
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10-14-2015, 02:42 PMjkRe: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted Moviebut they do when you buy one:Quote:
Quoting flyingron
I suspect Jack believes purchasing the movie makes the illegal download a moot point.Quote:
We were in a hurry so I ended up buying the movie and ripping it for her iPad.
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10-14-2015, 02:50 PMspaceace414Re: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted MovieSince that was back in the summer I highly doubt we still have the receipt. My wife saves all kinds of receipts, but not something like that.Quote:
Quoting adjusterjack
From what I am reading all over the Internet, the company could still come after me even if I quash the subpoena. And if I do try to quash it, looks like all my personal information can become public. So I don't think it would be prudent to follow through on that. I guess I will just wait and see if the judge throws this out (which many seem to be doing) and then see what I need to do next. -
10-14-2015, 05:07 PMadjusterjackRe: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted MovieYep, I believe that owning the movie after not actually downloading the movie could be an adequate defense.Quote:
Quoting jk
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10-14-2015, 05:21 PMjkRe: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted MovieDownloading any portion of the movie is a violation. He admits to downloading some of it. Purchasing a copy of the movie does not make an illegal act legal regardless; he did not own the copy of the movie when he downloaded what he did so it would still be an unlawful act at the time he downloaded what he did. Later purchasing a copy does not make the unlawful act lawful.Quote:
Quoting adjusterjack
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10-14-2015, 05:22 PMflyingronRe: Notice of Subpoena for Downloading a Copyrighted MovieHe DID download it. If he hadn't downloaded (at least part of it), then the copyright trolls wouldn't have his IP address. He's already incriminated himself to the forum.Quote:
Quoting adjusterjack
The copyright law doesn't say "It's OK to pirate movies as long as you give up because the site you're stealing it from is too slow for your amount of patience."