Sydney, February 25: Hollywood studios said Thursday they would appeal a landmark ruling by an Australian court that internet service providers (ISPs) are not obliged to stop customers downloading pirated films and television programmes.
Last month a consortium of 34 film and television studios lost the case it brought against Perth-based iiNet, Australia’s second-largest ISP.
The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) said it was appealing the decision to protect the rights of copyright holders and ensure the survival of the creative community.
The initial ruling was described by industry monitoring website Techdirt as a “huge victory for those who believe that the efforts by copyright holders to push secondary liability on ISPs is a very dangerous policy.”
Federal Court Justice Dennis Cowdroy, who ordered AFACT to pay iiNet’s court costs, said of his decision that the “mere provision of access to the internet is not the means to infringement.”
AFACT had argued that iiNet was liable for copyright infringement by its customers and that it should have taken “reasonable steps” to stop its customers sharing illegal movies and music on peer-to-peer file networks.
“It’s more than disappointing and frustrating that the studios have chosen this unproductive path,” iiNet chief executive Michael Malone said of AFACT’s decision to appeal. “This legal case has not stopped one illegal download, and further legal appeals will not stop piracy.”
–Agencies