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ARTICLE · 28 FEBRUARY 2014

Lifting The Internet Veil In P2P Copyright Infringement Actions

Gowling WLG
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With the debate over "patent trolls" raging in the United States, a different type of "troll" was discussed in a recent decision from the Federal Court of Canada: "copyright trolls."

CanadaIntellectual Property
Will Boyer
Will Boyer
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With the debate over "patent trolls" raging in the United States, a different type of "troll" was discussed in a recent decision from the Federal Court of Canada: "copyright trolls."

The plaintiff in Voltage Pictures LLC v. John Doe and Jane Doe, 2014 FC 161 is a film production company that produced, among other films, The Hurt Locker. It is seeking damages for copyright infringement against unknown defendants for alleged peer-to-peer ("P2P") file-sharing.

In 2012, Voltage engaged Canipre Inc. ("Canipre") to investigate whether any of Voltage's cinematographic works were being copied and distributed in Canada over P2P networks using BitTorrent. Canipre was able to identify certain information, including IP addresses, of internet subscribers who had allegedly infringed Voltage's works. Canipre identified the IP addresses of over 2,000 subscribers from one internet service provider ("ISP"), TekSavvy Solutions Inc. ("TekSavvy").

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