"Fathers and Daughters" piracy case dismissed

Writer: Nur Iman Syasya

"Fathers and Daughters" is one of the two movies in the alleged piracy case that was dismissed on the grounds of "insufficient evidence".

20 Apr – Previously, the copyright owners to the films "Queen of the Desert" and "Fathers and Daughters" came down on movie downloaders in Singapore for alleged piracy, in other words, for not paying to download copies of the films.

Now, as reported by The Straits Times, the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) has delivered an oral decision to throw out the piracy case on the grounds of "insufficient evidence".

Hollywood studios QOTD Film Investment, which owns "Queen of the Desert" starring Nicole Kidman, and Voltage Pictures, which produced the Russell Crowe-starrer "Fathers & Daughters", last year served papers to compel local telcos to release the details of Internet subscribers who allegedly downloaded the two films.

Both studios were requesting Singtel, StarHub and M1 for details of alleged pirates of said movies, with a list of over 500 offending internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

However, the Singapore High Court has thrown out the applications made by local law firm Samuel Seow Law Corp (SSLC), who represents the two studios.

"Queen of the Dessert" is the second movie that was allegedly illegally downloaded.

The AGC and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (Ipos) said that they highlighted to the court that the evidence submitted by SSLC was insufficient, since it did not show a link between the IP addresses and the alleged illegal downloaders.

"Many people may be sharing the same Wi-Fi connection. It doesn't mean that the registrant of the line is downloading," said intellectual property lawyer, Cyril Chua of Robinson LLC.

IP lawyer at Rajah & Tann Singapore, Mr Lau Kok Keng, said that requiring the rights to the identity of the owner of the IP address to the actual infringer is akin to "putting the cart before the horse", as the account holder needs to be correctly identified first so that copyright holders are able to go after him or her legally.

The true individuals who illegally downloaded the content will "be able to get off scot-free" since their identities will never be revealed.

But, this doesn't mean the end of all hope for intellectual copyright holders in getting paid the amount they truly deserve.

There are other ways to enforce their copyright, as seen during December 2014 when the amended Copyright Act took effect and let content owners seek a High Court order to get telcos to block piracy websites.

However, in this current case, the GAC and Ipos said that they intervened to prevent "an abuse of the process of the court".