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ARTICLE · 17 FEBRUARY 2011

The Show Must Go On....

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Judge orders that the claims against alleged copyright infringers must continue regardless of the claimant’s wish to discontinue.

United KingdomIntellectual Property
John Yates
John Yates

Judge orders that the claims against alleged copyright infringers must continue regardless of the claimant's wish to discontinue.

Last Tuesday, HHJ Birss QC, sitting in the Patents County Court, determined that he would not accept notices of discontinuance filed by Media CAT's legal advisers, ACS Law, in its claims for alleged infringement of film copyrights by users of peer to peer networks. Within the space of the few short days between the 24 January hearing and last week's decision, Media CAT had reportedly filed for insolvency and ACS Law closed its doors.

For those who have not followed this long-running soap opera, the story runs something like this...

Back in 2008, two partners at Davenport Lyons, Brian Miller and David Gore, oversaw an operation whereby the firm wrote to alleged file-sharers on behalf of copyright owners and sought payment of a fixed sum for the infringement. This method was to become known as "speculative invoicing" and came in for

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