The US Copyright Group has filed seven lawsuits against some 14, 000 unnamed individuals for the alleged violation of copyright laws after they shared and downloaded movie files over peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.
USCG, backed by Dunlap law firm and Grubb & Weaver lawyers, has filed the cases before the US Federal Court against thousands of John Does, which could potentially reach into a settlement worth more than $20 million.
The group also said that the scope of litigation could further expand, saying that they are still investigation thousands more for the case.
In a statement, lawyers who organized the mass filing of cases said that the action was part of the overall attempt by the film industry to suppress the continued proliferation of criminal activities such as illegal file-sharing over P2P networks like BitTorrent.
The lawyers said that they have initiated the action against these “cybercriminals” on behalf of the independent movie makers and film producers who cannot take a lone stand against millions of file-sharers on the Internet.
Among the independent movies being pirated over P2P include “Far Cry,” “The Gray Man,” and “The Hurt Locker,” which has recently bagged the Best Movie Award the the Academy Awards.
However, many of the civil liberty organizations and other concerned individuals questioned the action of USCG, saying that the group is merely a moneymaking venture by groups of lawyers who wanted to turn thousands of Internet users into a “milking cow.”
Civil liberty groups also questioned the validity of such charges, asking whether mass lawsuits are the answer for the illegal file-sharing activity on the web.
“The USCG and other organization as such were formed solely to sue thousands of John Does and fund additional lawsuits from the money it made from an earlier litigation,” said Atty. Jennifer Granick of the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation.
USCG has acquired the services of German technology firm GuardaLey to track and identify the Internet addresses of each individual who has downloaded or shared movie files over P2P networks.