Owners of the copyright for the Dallas Buyers Club movie who want to prosecute Australian piraters may have to review and revise their own strategies as the Federal Court on Friday, August 14 quashed the case of the Dallas Buyers Club LLC against illegal downloaders in Australia.

According to intellectual property lawyer Mark Vincent in an interview with The Australian, Justice Nye Perram’s ruling that hindered Dallas Buyers Club LLC from obtaining information about customers who illegally downloaded the 2013 film via BitTorrent is a major blow against speculative invoicing, which is a feature of the United States intellectual property system.

Vincent noted that “one of the assumptions behind speculative invoicing from the rights holder was that it could call on extra damages under the Copyright Act in Australia”.

Speculative invoicing is the process in which studios send large fines to an individual they deems guilty of illegal downloading their content to facilitate settlement.

Perram ruled that any letter that Dallas Buyers Club LLC plans on sending any civilian they deemed illegally downloaded their film should be approved by the court.

Our attorneys at Gagnon, Peacock & Vereeke, P.C. handle all kinds of intellectual property cases and litigation in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan area and throughout the state of Texas. Should you need legal advice or representation regarding these matters, call our offices today at (214) 317-4448 or 888-312-1750.