COPYCENSE

"The trade group that represents Hollywood’s major motion picture studios is expected to announce on Thursday that it intends to file as many as 230 lawsuits in coming weeks against individuals who have illegally shared copyrighted movie files over the Internet, according to two people involved in the proceedings.

"It would be the first time that the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents the major studios, including Warner Brothers Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Paramount Pictures, has sued individuals for sharing files, one of the people said.

"By putting Internet users on notice that they face fines or other stiff penalties for offering movies for others to download, the industry hopes to thwart the same problems that plagued the recording industry three years ago when executives did not respond quickly enough to the threat of piracy."

Laura M. Holson. Film Group Said to Plan Suits Aimed at Illegal File Sharing. The New York Times. Nov. 4, 2004.

See also:
Katie Dean. Movie Lawsuits on the Way. Wired News. Nov. 4, 2004.

Center for Democracy and Technology. CDT Supports Enforcement Actions Against Copyright Infringers, Calls for Measured Actions and More Lawful Alternatives. Nov. 5, 2004.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper’s fee-based Archive.)

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