US Copyright Group
Encyclopedia
The US Copyright Group is a business registered by the law firm Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver that also operates under the SaveCinema.org moniker. It is engaged in suing people in the U.S. who have allegedly used the P2P file sharing
protocol BitTorrent to download certain movies.
The group uses custom software that monitors bittorrent swarms of selected movies, records IP addresses of the file sharers, files suit in order to obtain subpoena
s to force ISPs to release the identities of the users, and then sends out letters to these users threatening to sue and offering settlements in the $1,000 to $3,000 range. It works for a number of independent film makers (but not for the Motion Picture Association of America
); involved movies include The Hurt Locker
, The Steam Experiment, Uncross the Stars, The Gray Man
, Call of the Wild
, Far Cry
, Cornered!
, Familiar Strangers, The Expendables
, as well as the porn movies Tokyo Cougar Creampies and Teen Paradise 4. The group does not charge up front for its services but takes a percentage of the revenue.
UCSG began operation in January 2010 and by September 2010 it had filed suit against 16,200 people.
The EFF
, ACLU and Time Warner
have joined forces to try to quash most of the lawsuits. The ACLU and EFF argued that the lawsuits were not closely related and therefore improperly joined, and that it was improper to file all suits in Washington DC even though most of the alleged offenders resided elsewhere. Time Warner argued that it could only handle 28 IP address lookup requests per month. In July 2010, the Washington D.C. District Court
judge rejected these arguments, but ordered UCSG, EFF and ACLU to work together to draft notification letters to be sent to the targeted individuals by their ISPs. The letters would inform them about the process and their legal options to fight the subpoena and would have to be approved by the court.
Also in July 2010, it was discovered that UCSG had copied parts of its website from a competitor without permission.
In September 2010, the website of Dunlap, Grubb, and Weaver was attacked as part of Operation Payback
; they also received an e-mailed bomb threat forcing the evacuation of the office.
A lawyer who sold self-help legal kits for people sued by the US Copyright Group was subsequently sued by the group.
A lawsuit was filed against the US Copyright Group in November 2010, alleging that the group engages in fraud and extortion by offering settlements without full intent to sue and by having falsified a movie's date of first publication, among other things.
A setback came in December 2010: the group had filed suit against 4,577 "John Doe
" alleged downloaders of the movie Far Cry
in Washington D.C. District Court, but the judge dropped all cases against defendants not known to reside in Washington D.C. However, in February 2011 a Washington D.C. federal judge (who had previously worked as a lobbyist for the RIAA) declined a request to stop issuing subpoenas against John Does.
The business model used by the US Copyright Group has been used before in Germany and by the law firm ACS Law in the UK. (ACS Law went out of business in February 2011 and hearings into allegations of professional misconduct of two of its former partners have been scheduled.) Several lawyers in the U.S. working on behalf of porn movie producers have since started to employ the same strategy.
In May 2011 a blind man was notified that Imperial Enterprises (represented by Dunlap, Grubb, and Weaver) had filed a lawsuit against him claiming his internet connection had been used to download a porn movie.
Peer-to-peer file sharing
P2P or Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to download files such as music, movies, and games using a P2P software client that searches for other connected computers. The "peers" are computer systems connected to each other through internet. Thus, the only requirements for a computer to join...
protocol BitTorrent to download certain movies.
The group uses custom software that monitors bittorrent swarms of selected movies, records IP addresses of the file sharers, files suit in order to obtain subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
s to force ISPs to release the identities of the users, and then sends out letters to these users threatening to sue and offering settlements in the $1,000 to $3,000 range. It works for a number of independent film makers (but not for the Motion Picture Association of America
Motion Picture Association of America
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...
); involved movies include The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
, The Steam Experiment, Uncross the Stars, The Gray Man
The Gray Man (2007 film)
The Gray Man is a 2007 biographical thriller film based on the actual life and events of American serial murderer, rapist and cannibal Albert Fish. It premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival on August 31, 2007, and was scheduled for a theatrical release sometime in 2007...
, Call of the Wild
Call of the Wild (2009 film)
Call of the Wild is an American film starring Christopher Lloyd, Timothy Bottoms, Veronica Cartwright, Christopher Dempsey, Joyce DeWitt, Ariel Gade, Devon Graye, Devon Iott, Kameron Knox, Russell Snyder, and Wes Studi; and directed by Richard Gabai.-Plot:A modern-day retelling of Jack London's...
, Far Cry
Far Cry (film)
Far Cry is a German film adapted from the video game of the same name. The film is directed by Uwe Boll and stars Til Schweiger.- Plot :Jack Carver, a former member of Germany's Special Forces, takes journalist Valerie Cardinal to visit her Uncle Max on an island, where he works in a military...
, Cornered!
Cornered! (film)
-Plot:During their nightly poker game, a group of lowlife friends bring up a string of recent brutal murders at liquor stores. The group gets locked in at a liquor store one of them owns after the keys get lost, the group talks about collecting the bounty placed on the killer's head...
, Familiar Strangers, The Expendables
The Expendables (2010 film)
The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released in theaters on August 13, 2010 in North America.The film is...
, as well as the porn movies Tokyo Cougar Creampies and Teen Paradise 4. The group does not charge up front for its services but takes a percentage of the revenue.
UCSG began operation in January 2010 and by September 2010 it had filed suit against 16,200 people.
The EFF
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
, ACLU and Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
have joined forces to try to quash most of the lawsuits. The ACLU and EFF argued that the lawsuits were not closely related and therefore improperly joined, and that it was improper to file all suits in Washington DC even though most of the alleged offenders resided elsewhere. Time Warner argued that it could only handle 28 IP address lookup requests per month. In July 2010, the Washington D.C. District Court
United States District Court for the District of Columbia
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court. Appeals from the District are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a...
judge rejected these arguments, but ordered UCSG, EFF and ACLU to work together to draft notification letters to be sent to the targeted individuals by their ISPs. The letters would inform them about the process and their legal options to fight the subpoena and would have to be approved by the court.
Also in July 2010, it was discovered that UCSG had copied parts of its website from a competitor without permission.
In September 2010, the website of Dunlap, Grubb, and Weaver was attacked as part of Operation Payback
Operation Payback
Operation Payback is a coordinated, decentralized group of attacks on opponents of Internet piracy by Internet activists using the "Anonymous" moniker - a group sometimes affiliated with the website 4chan. Operation Payback started as retaliation to distributed denial of service attacks on torrent...
; they also received an e-mailed bomb threat forcing the evacuation of the office.
A lawyer who sold self-help legal kits for people sued by the US Copyright Group was subsequently sued by the group.
A lawsuit was filed against the US Copyright Group in November 2010, alleging that the group engages in fraud and extortion by offering settlements without full intent to sue and by having falsified a movie's date of first publication, among other things.
A setback came in December 2010: the group had filed suit against 4,577 "John Doe
John Doe
The name "John Doe" is used as a placeholder name in a legal action, case or discussion for a male party, whose true identity is unknown or must be withheld for legal reasons. The name is also used to refer to a male corpse or hospital patient whose identity is unknown...
" alleged downloaders of the movie Far Cry
Far Cry (film)
Far Cry is a German film adapted from the video game of the same name. The film is directed by Uwe Boll and stars Til Schweiger.- Plot :Jack Carver, a former member of Germany's Special Forces, takes journalist Valerie Cardinal to visit her Uncle Max on an island, where he works in a military...
in Washington D.C. District Court, but the judge dropped all cases against defendants not known to reside in Washington D.C. However, in February 2011 a Washington D.C. federal judge (who had previously worked as a lobbyist for the RIAA) declined a request to stop issuing subpoenas against John Does.
The business model used by the US Copyright Group has been used before in Germany and by the law firm ACS Law in the UK. (ACS Law went out of business in February 2011 and hearings into allegations of professional misconduct of two of its former partners have been scheduled.) Several lawyers in the U.S. working on behalf of porn movie producers have since started to employ the same strategy.
In May 2011 a blind man was notified that Imperial Enterprises (represented by Dunlap, Grubb, and Weaver) had filed a lawsuit against him claiming his internet connection had been used to download a porn movie.
External links
- Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver
- USCG v. The People, by the Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
- USCopyrightGroupDefense.com Marketing website by attorney Eric Menhart seeking clients.
- 'Hurt Locker' sharers: Expect docs like this (photos), CNET News. Settlement letter sent out by UCSG to one Verizon customer