Popcorn Time, commonly referred to as “Netflix for pirates,” has found that its users are now under attack for copyright infringement.
The creators of a movie called The Cobbler just initiated a court case against 11 Popcorn Time consumers in Oregon for copying and dispensing the movie without permission.
The Cobbler was released in early this year to tepid reviews and stars Adam Sandler.
Though no individuals are named, in the court case, the makers of the movie list out 11 John and Jane Does by their computers’ IP addresses together with their ISP, in this case Comcast Cable, and the time and date they made access to the movie.
In the complaint, the makers claim that “Popcorn Time is meant for one purpose and one purpose only: to steal copyrighted content.”
As far as compensation goes, the claimants are seeking at least $150,000 in lawyers’ fees and damages, although these cases usually settle near the beginning of the proceedings, regularly to the tune of a few thousand dollars.
The movie in question has a rating of 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and instead of embracing the few customers who actually want to watch such a poor production the team behind the film would prefer to sue what few fans they do have.
While the business of suing customers never produces results for powerful film studios the fact Popcorn Time has incurred their wrath is unsurprising.
Since it went live in 2014, the website’s simple to use browsing system has made the search and access of copyrighted content a breeze, particularly when compared to conventional BitTorrent users. Not too astonishingly, Popcorn Time has caused an apparent increase in both TV and movie piracy in recent months.
Yet rather than examine the research, which time and again shows that piracy is associated with higher profits for content creators, Hollywood has again decided to put their head firmly in the sand and sue their best customers.
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