
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4899255
handle: 2292/68055
To combat online copyright infringement, rights holders or their representatives may engage in "speculative invoicing": threatening alleged infringers with litigation unless they pay an excessive settlement fee. This article explores the extent to which Australians are protected from speculative invoicing in light of recent litigation. The copyright owner of the movie Dallas Buyers Club applied for preliminary discovery of account holder details under the Federal Court Rules. The Court denied access to these details because the owner sought to use them to claim damages that, in the opinion of the Court, it could not plausibly sue for. This approach significantly protects alleged individuals against speculative invoicing. However, the Court should more broadly supervise the draft correspondence that rights holders propose to use. As this article contends, the Court should ensure that these letters are drafted in good faith to protect individuals against speculative invoicing. Decisions in Canada and the United Kingdom provide guidance as to the factors the Court could consider in assessing draft correspondence.
1801 Law, 4804 Law in context, 4801 Commercial law, 4806 Private law and civil obligations
1801 Law, 4804 Law in context, 4801 Commercial law, 4806 Private law and civil obligations
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