Dallas Buyers Club letter revealed
The letter the owners of Hollywood film Dallas Buyers Club (DBC) want to send out across Australia has been leaked, with the alleged pirates asked about their annual income and to contact the owners to “negotiate a settlement”.
Online news site Mashable posted the eight-page letter on its website this morning, against the wishes of the lawyers acting for DBC in court this week who argued it would weaken their bargaining position.
The Mashable story published this morning
The letter states that the alleged infringer has been identified as having “illegally shared the film” and must contact representatives to negotiate a settlement within 28 days.
They are not given an indication as to how much the owners of the film want from the alleged pirate.
In April, the Federal Court ordered internet providers iiNet and M2 Group — which owns Dodo — to hand over the personal details of 4726 people accused of downloading the film.
It was considered a landmark decision, with experts saying it had clear implications for illegal downloading in Australia but others have raised questions about the legal clout of the letters.
According to the letter, DBC will ask the alleged pirate if they are disabled, unemployed, in the army or suffering from terminal illness in a telephone conversation, with the lawyers indicating they would not press charges against those individuals.
The letter also indicates DBC wants to know the alleged pirate’s annual income and employment status.
The letter says DBC is entitled to chase alleged pirates for damages and expenses stemming from the claimed infringement if they do not contact DBC’s lawyers, and also to commence legal action if no settlement is reached.
According to some reports lawyers acting for DBC in the US have demanded settlements ranging from US$3500 to US$5000 (A$4,500 to A$6,420). In one case, the company threatened to increase the settlement demand from US$5000 to US$7000 if the alleged file sharer did not pay within a specified amount of time
