ACS:Law copyright file sharing claims, Gallant Macmillan - and probably some others along the way...

[Billpayerr]

For those new recipients of claims who are still deciding what to do… here is snippets of advice from the Lawdit Solicitors reading room.

 

It should be noted that we have taken instructions from over 200 clients and not one of them have actually been sued, but it is by no means concrete evidence that Acs: Law will not issue a claim against you if you completely deny infringing the work (whether you have committed the infringement or not). Therefore, careful consideration of you legal position should be made before denying or seeking to settle the allegations in a letter of claim.

 

What should I do?

 

If you have not done the act alleged you should strongly deny the same.

If, and only if, you have downloaded or uploaded the work you will have committed an infringement of copyright. In this instance it is advisable to pay up and get rid of the matter as soon as possible. However, if you have decided to settle the matter and pay up you may want to consider negotiating the settlement figure down.

 

Also, when settling it is important not to sign any undertaking.

 

Will the matter go away if I ignore the letter of claim?

 

No. The simple point here is that you should not ignore any letter of claim. Ignoring and allowing the time limit under the letter to expire may result in a sealed claim form being sent to you

 

Will the matter go away if I ignore the claim form?

 

No. If you do receive a sealed claim form again the position is simple, do not ignore it. If you do ignore it and fail to file an Acknowledgement of Service or a Defense this will entitle the Claimant to apply for judgment in default for the below remedies under Part 12 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

[seymourtitty]

Lawdit Solicitors advice for those that admit to file sharing:

 

If, and only if, you have downloaded or uploaded the work you will have committed an infringement of copyright. In this instance it is advisable to pay up and get rid of the matter as soon as possible. However, if you have decided to settle the matter and pay up you may want to consider negotiating the settlement figure down.

Also, when settling it is important not to sign any undertaking.

 

Im contemplating negotiating the price down.

 

But what does this mean - not to sign any undertaking? With the letter there is a link to a secure site on which you use to settle the claim, and I'm sure there will be something on there to admit liability...

[captain-123]

Im contemplating negotiating the price down.

 

But what does this mean - not to sign any undertaking? With the letter there is a link to a secure site on which you use to settle the claim, and I'm sure there will be something on there to admit liability...

 

If I was going to do this without the help of a solisitor I would not sign the form or admit to any wrong doing but say that to remove the stress and hassle of this hanging over me I would be prepaired to negotiate on the cost.

 

Not sure if this would be the right thing to do though

[BARFLY]

the silence from plusnet is deafening!

 

i don't think ACS have supplied the report. if they have, they've probably revealed that nobody has been taken to court. if that's the case, plusnet have suddenly found themselves spearheading the counter-attack. only problem is, they don't want this role. they never objected in the first place like talktalk. they are probably trying to come up with some statement that absolves them from taking any further action against ACS but at the same time makes them look like they have tried for their customers; they're sitting on the fence. besides talktalk, the only participant to these orders that has shown any frustration with ACS is Chiefmaster Winegarten(?). that's why he placed the caveat in the november 09 order. to give the isp's a reason for objecting. unfortunately the isp's dont want to know! it's been the plusnet subscribers that have pushed and pushed for this today. as yet, they, and we, have nothing. i would have thought it be straightforward - they either got the report or they didn't. what's the problem? get ready for a major climbdown by another spineless isp.

[Billpayerr]

.... I'm sure there will be something on there to admit liability...

 

That'll be it i expect.

 

I see no reason why you can't try to negotiate a lower claim amount without signing anything that states you admit liability. The whole purpose of pre-action protocol is for both parties to come to an agreement and avoid costly court fee's.

 

I wouldn't sign anything amitting liabilty and i guess a Judge would take a dim view on any solicitor that pushed a claim through the court process just because someone wouldnt sign it:confused:

[BARFLY]

plusnet, plusnet, where art thou....? some have greatness thrust upon them....

 

you can be our saviour. or it might be that you just don't care about your subscribers that are being blackmailed. it's easier to turn the other way and let others do something about it.

 

same old, same old

[Jamuir]

plusnet, plusnet, where art thou....? some have greatness thrust upon them....

 

you can be our saviour. or it might be that you just don't care about your subscribers that are being blackmailed. it's easier to turn the other way and let others do something about it.

 

same old, same old

 

plusnet have responded, theyve more questions to ask and theyve given acs a deadline of 10 August.

[BARFLY]

either they got the report or they didn't. the questions were simple enough. if acs evaded them it would be in breach of the order.

[BARFLY]

apparently they are seeking clarification whether the response is a report!? did they answer the points raised by the chiefmaster, yes or no? no need to analyse the structure of the response. unless it needs to be in report form for legal purposes

[BARFLY]

maybe that's the point. maybe andy has been evasive in his response but is maintaining he has fulfilled his obligations. maybe plusnet are endeavouring to show that his response is not a report and therefore in breach of the order.....

 

where she stops nobody knows...

[8of9]

ACS:Law have responded, and Plusnet have now sent additional correspondence to ACS:Law via our legal team to seek further clarity on specific points. We have sought to draw a line on this and have ask that our queries are answered by close of business on Tuesday the 10th of August.

 

There's an interesting line in a later post by Fletch

 

I think the best I can say is we are seeking clarity on whether the response from ACS:Law constitutes a report

.

Makes you wonder what a practicing Solicitor and sole proprioter of a law firm constitutes a report which is a response to a requirement in a court order.

Or then perhaps Plusnet were disinclined to accept the report at face value as it resembled a template :lol:

[Guest mb4014]

Plusnet please do the right thing and end this nonsense. You are in a position to deal with this. ACS have shown their cards. There are thousands of people being intimidated by this company and you would gain major support if you stood up to this.

[Mr Anonymous]

Before offering a payment, be sure that you did it and not someone else that may have used your connection with your consent but downloaded without your consent.

 

File sharing software is legal, i've had to install it to get certain game updates and other legitimate software.

 

ACS are being crafty, the file they accuse you of downloading is usually a whole album and not a single track, but they go on to say you downloaded a particular track, you could have downloaded the file (album) without that particular track included.

If you hold your hands up to it, you are saying i also downloaded all of the other songs too, you've given them everything they need to continue generating revenue from the other tracks too. (Say 1000 people admit to downloading the file (album), they just collect numbers and go to the other music producers offering a no win no fee copyright claim.

 

Their tactics are purely about making a fast buck, they are not interested in stemming copyright problems. Thay can hound you time and time again or share info with partners who take on the next batch of claims.

 

It's also worth considering that track may not actually play as it didn't entirely download (they have no way of knowing), therefore not a significant part of the track could have been downloaded or uploaded by you (no law broken). IT's highly unlikely that anyone person could have uploaded a significant part of a song to one user.

 

 

REMEMBER, If you quote another persons message please delete any admissions, better off just putting the other persons nickname in bold so they know you're talking to them.

[Mr Anonymous]

Before offering a payment, be sure that you did it and not someone else that may have used your connection with your consent but downloaded without your consent.

 

File sharing software is legal, i've had to install it to get certain game updates and other legitimate software.

 

ACS are being crafty, the file they accuse you of downloading is usually a whole album and not a single track, but they go on to say you downloaded a particular track, you could have downloaded the file (album) without that particular track included.

If you hold your hands up to it, you are saying i also downloaded all of the other songs too, you've given them everything they need to continue generating revenue from the other tracks too. (Say 1000 people admit to downloading the file (album), they just collect numbers and go to the other music producers offering a no win no fee copyright claim.

 

Their tactics are purely about making a fast buck, they are not interested in stemming copyright problems. Thay can hound you time and time again or share info with partners who take on the next batch of claims.

 

It's also worth considering that track may not actually play as it didn't entirely download (they have no way of knowing), therefore not a significant part of the track could have been downloaded or uploaded by you (no law broken). IT's highly unlikely that anyone person could have uploaded a significant part of a song to one user.

 

 

REMEMBER, If you quote another persons message please delete any admissions, better off just putting the other persons nickname in bold so they know you're talking to them.

[BARFLY]

hope all the pertinent answers are in the report. how many plusnet subscribers did you contact? out of that number how many did you take to court? AND, OUT OF THOSE THAT YOU HAVE NOT TAKEN TO COURT FROM HOW MANY ARE YOU STILL REQUESTING PAYMENT...

[seymourtitty]

thanks guys, some good advice as always. My major concern is that, after making a payment, GM pass on my details to the next shysters saying that I'm ripe for plucking, so to speak...and we have the same scenario in another three months

[BARFLY]

bearing in mind ACS are currently the subject of a long running investigation by the SRA, I hope that the legal team at plusnet update them on the response they have received from ACS. if ACS have breached a court order then i'm sure this will have a bearing on the SRA investigation...

[seymourtitty]

I presume the SRA havent announced their findings yet into Gallant??

[BARFLY]

i wouldn't have thought so. they've taken a year or so to investgate ACS. and apparently GM were in touch with the SRA to okay their letters before they were sent out.

[8of9]

bearing in mind ACS are currently the subject of a long running investigation by the SRA, I hope that the legal team at plusnet update them on the response they have received from ACS. if ACS have breached a court order then i'm sure this will have a bearing on the SRA investigation...

 

Good point. Anyone from Plusnet should remind them to inform the SRA of ACS antics.

[BARFLY]

being that he used to be a DJ (that's disc jockey, not district judge) what do you think Andrew's favourite song is? i reckon "money for nothing" by dire straits..

Edited August 6, 2010 by BARFLY
spelling

[BARFLY]

actually steve miller :"take the money and run" would be more apt.

[Guest mb4014]

lol was just about to add that

[BARFLY]

actually, i'll edit that one. we all know how litigious andrew is...

[ANDREW CROSSFIRE]

being that he used to be a DJ (that's disc jockey, not district judge) what do you think Andrew's favourite song is? i reckon "money for nothing" by dire straits..

 

I think it'd be 'download' by super furry animals