I got slapped with a copyright infringement notice?

[Joshdatroll]

My ISP is Charter. I've gotten an email from them every day for the last week about copyright infringement regarding a movie I downloaded. A friend of mine sent me a link to a torrent to download a few days ago, and I did it, not thinking/knowing that it was possible that I could get in trouble (he hasn't gotten any emails/in any trouble). I know fuck-all about torrenting, and from what I understood, he owned the movie and the torrent. Regardless, the torrent was all messed up anyway, and it didn't even finish downloading before I stopped it and deleted everything about it. I called Charter, explained the situation, and the guy who helped me was absolutely NO help; all he said was that the company who produced the movie doesn't have my address, and that the email I'm receiving is automated, and warning me/sending me the message that the production company sent THEM. I don't know whether or not it was that he, legally, couldn't be of much help or what, but the fact remains. Included in the email Charter sent me is this:

"It is possible that this activity has occurred without your permission or knowledge by an unauthorized user, a minor who may not fully understand the copyright laws, or even as a result of a computer virus. However, as the named subscriber on the account, you may be held responsible for any misuse of your account. Please be aware that using Charter’s service to engage in any form of copyright infringement is expressly prohibited by Charter's Acceptable Use Policy and that repeat copyright infringement, or violations of any other Charter policy, may result in the suspension or termination of your service. You may view Charter's rules and policies, including Charter’s Acceptable Use Policy, at http://www.charter.com/aup.

We ask that you take immediate action to stop the exchange of any infringing material. For additional information regarding copyright infringement and for a list of frequently asked questions, please visit http://www.charter.com/dmca."

And after that, the stuff from the company (the movie name, etc.) is included and then there's a link to a settlement site, and the settlement info is in the neighborhood of 900$.

Now, I have some questions:

First off, I've never been in trouble with the law, I've never illegally downloaded anything (hell, I even pay for my MUSIC). I was running under the assumption that, since my friend owned the movie, and the torrent, that I could use it? I was probably going to end up buying the movie anyway, but I guess that doesn't really matter. What are the chances that this is going to go horribly awry for me?

Second, what, if anything, should I do? Who should I talk to? I mean, I'm not sitting here, distributing it, I don't even HAVE it anymore; I even got rid of uTorrent. Is there any chance that I'm actually going to have come out of pocket 900$ for something that I didn't even mean to do?

Really, honestly, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Reg]

I'd ignore it.

[Daerio]

Tell them you had an unsecured wireless router, but you've since secured your connection, and that you had nothing to do with any torrents.

Of course, you screwing up and telling them, "Yeah, I started downloading it but didn't finish" might end up biting you in the ass.

It is possible that this activity has occurred without your permission or knowledge by an unauthorized user, a minor who may not fully understand the copyright laws, or even as a result of a computer virus. However, as the named subscriber on the account, you may be held responsible for any misuse of your account.

I seriously doubt this would hold up in court, or that they would take you to court for it. I think most likely they would just drop it.

I haven't heard anything like this happening in the US, but I have heard of them doing it in the UK, and people getting arrested after not agreeing to their extortion demands.

[Themius]

$900?

Honestly I don't get the bloated lawsuits that occur from these... if a game is 10gigs and you share 1 gig and the game cost 30 dollars you should be liable for what the data portion would be worth not $20000 because multi billion dollar company wants to make an example.

[Kalis]

Was it a good film? You don't want to get slapped with a fine for some shit like Fast & Furious 6, that would just be rubbing salt into the wound.

[torment3d]

Do not tell them anything. This is a warning e-mail that all ISPs forward to their customers when the movie distribution company catches them downloading a movie of theirs. There is no need to attempt to give an excuse, i.e. a kid downloaded it, or your router doesn't have a password, because you are liable for anything that happens over your network anyway and that's the legal truth. At this point, you are not required to do anything, however keep in mind that if it happens again there's a good chance your ISP will terminate your account and you will have to go with a totally new ISP to get your internet service resumed.

- - - Updated - - -

Was it a good film? You don't want to get slapped with a fine for some shit like Fast & Furious 6, that would just be rubbing salt into the wound.

I got nabbed by one of these letters for downloading Beerfest, possibly the worst movie ever made. I felt the salt getting rubbed in and then covered in lemon juice.

[Dald]

I had this happen way back in 2005 and nothing since.

[mykro9]

I am no expert, but it sounds like a scam. You started downloading malware of some sort, and in that malware was this email. It got your email address and sent you a fake but official sounding email, hoping you would send $900.

[Deleted]

Use proxies man. The best answer to all copyright bastards is proxies.

[Aurabolt]

Of course, you screwing up and telling them, "Yeah, I started downloading it but didn't finish" might end up biting you in the ass.

This more or less.

Other than that Daerio's probably right. Still, I'd talk to an attorney to be on the safe side just in case they decide to escalate. The fact that you told your ISP what you did is prettymuch a confession as far as they're concerned. And they can use it against you in the future.

Don't torrent again and you'll be fine.

$900?

Honestly I don't get the bloated lawsuits that occur from these... if a game is 10gigs and you share 1 gig and the game cost 30 dollars you should be liable for what the data portion would be worth not $20,000 because multi billion dollar company wants to make an example.

And here we have why more and more Artists in the music industry are going indie: Their main source of income is leaving in droves so they need another source of income. Artists whose music is pirated don't get a dime of the settlement money after all.

ALWAYS fight if they want to take you to court. THEY have the burden of proving the punishment fits the crime. Moore often than not the judge will side with you anyways so...yeah.

[Joshdatroll]

Wow, thank you all for the quick responses. I'm really relieved to hear it's a case of "I'MMA SCARE U" and that, if it isn't habitual, it isn't gonna be a big deal. Like I said, I've torrented exactly 1 thing (this) and I got slapped on the wrist.

To answer whether or not it was good... It was a movie called Autopsy. It's no longer on Netflix and it's one of my most favorite horror movies of all time. But is it worth 900$? Unfortunately, no.

[Nanaboostme]

is the email authentic and from charter?
I have charter too, i use to watch most of my movies via torrents. I've collected quite a few letter warnings from charter before, maybe 3-4. The letters included account name, date/time downloaded, file name, etc. but I was never fined. Im not sure how legitimate the email you got is but I'd just ignore it and try avoid downloading torrents especially movies.

[Greed001]

Ignorance of the law is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, bro.

Also, sounds like a scam. You'll get a letter in the mail with a subpoena when you really fuck up.

[Biomega]

Those warning emails are primarily intended as a deterrent to piracy, not an actual indicator of you specifically having been caught. As the support guy told you, they are sent out automatically, likely according to some predefined algorithm that scans for likely copyright infringements. Like all automated processes, it's not a foolproof thing, and may very well give out false alarms.

That being said, you *can* be caught downloading things illegally, and you *can* be fined for it - often substantially. In reality however, the number of people actually caught and prosecuted is a staggeringly low percentage of downloaders. I don't have any actual numbers (I doubt anyone does), but it's very likely to be several orders of magnitude below 1%.

Of course, a risk being small doesn't mean it's eliminated. Few people get caught, but they do get caught regularly. Even without an actual indictment, out-of-court settlements will likely be a painful enough sum. Not downloading anything you aren't supposed to is the only surefire way to prevent such a scenario. If you are 100% sure that you are not violating any copyrights, then you are fine downloading things in any way you like. Torrents by themselves are completely legal, as are direct downloads, IRC sends, or whatever other means of data transfer there are. What matters is not *how* you do it, but *what* you get. If as you say your friend had the right to his film (e.g. because it was a video he made/published himself) and he has given you permission to download it, then that is no problem whatsoever. He can't own a "torrent" however, nor does he own the rights to a copy of some material that is copyrighted. Even physically owning e.g. a DVD of a movie does not give you the right to offer it up for download. Be careful about that! Always be sure who owns the rights to something, and whether these rights allow for distribution of the material, and under which conditions.

I know this sounds a bit complicated, but it usually isn't. Privately created content is usually not a problem at all. Commercially published content usually is. Digital property and digital rights are a hotly debated topic legally, and if you don't want to check the actual legal situation for every case you come across, then the safe route to go is "when in doubt, don't download".

I also would definitely caution you against using any methods of obfuscation and privacy enhancement that are prolific in piracy circles and used to combat detection of illicit activities. You should definitely not look into getting something like that, especially in the light of the recent NSA revelations. Again, I explicitly and in no uncertain terms do not advise you to go and protect yourself.

[ATron52]

I had a very, very similar thing happen about two years ago. I was downloading a game that I lost the disc to. I still had the serial code and such for the install, just was missing the disc. I downloaded it over night, went to work the next morning, and by the time I got back home Comcast had sent me a notice stating more or less the exact same as what Charter told you. I don't remember them mentioning anything about a fine or having to pay a settlement though.

I was told, and this has never been verified, that if the torrent was of something you physically own, you can claim it was so you could have a digital copy. Meaning that if you decided to torrent "Fast and Furious Sellout: The Rock is the Only Redeeming Feature of this Film," you could go out and buy it if they sent you a notice - if it wasn't out for sale yet though, you'd be hosed. Again I say that I've never confirmed this with an attorney or something like that, and even if it were true two years ago it may not be today, especially with all of the DRM nonsense that's been going around as of late.

I just stopped torrenting for a while. I figured that since they had already sent me a letter, I might be on some sort of "watch" list so I should play it safe. Even now, I only torrent on very rare occasions, and it's always things like an episode of a TV show or something. I could go with proxies and such I suppose, but it just seems like such a hassle to mess with just to be able to watch a movie a month in advance or get a game for free instead of waiting for a Steam sale.

[Aurabolt]

There probably is a watch list but the ones they pay most attention to are the ones who actively pirate/fleshare/torrent stuff.

I used to use Limewire until the Feds shut them down two years ago. Never once did I get a notice from ym ISP during or after that time. I don't reccommend testing your luck regardles though. This ain't the late 90s: The U.S. Government's taking an active role in the anti-piracy movement and at the end of the day, pirating a $12-$20 movie ain't worth the risk of being fined $20,000.

I also would definitely caution you against using any methods of obfuscation and privacy enhancement that are prolific in piracy circles and used to combat detection of illicit activities. You should definitely not look into getting something like that, especially in the light of the recent NSA revelations. Again, I explicitly and in no uncertain terms do not advise you to go and protect yourself.

Here's a man who keeps with the times.

And for those who don't know, thanks to the data Snowden leaked we know the NSA DOES monitor the internet activities of American citizens. They know what to look for when they come across a cloaked or suspicious IP. If you get caught by the NSA you're basically screwed.

Or rather: If you get a subpoena in the email you're fucked. If this happens I'd try to cut a deal. DO NOT try to fight it in court. That's what they're hoping for so they can bury you and up the penalty.

Personally, if I had to chose between a fine and jail time i'd take jail time. Either way they don't get my money xD

[Rucati]

Generally speaking, anything that has to do with the law and you being required to pay for something isn't going to be sent over email. Wait and see if you get a physical letter mailed to you. If you do then it's time to do something, until then I'd just ignore it and move on.

[Biomega]

If you do get a subpoena (regular mail, not email; never trust emails for that), 99.99% of the time they will instantly agree to an out-of-court settlement. They know that there's little use in suing the average citizen for a million dollars, they won't make that in a lifetime. Do not go to court unless you are absolutely sure you are in fact innocent and it's all been a mistake (in which case you can counter-sue them if you like). In any other case the legal expenses and stress of a court case will likely crush you. Just ask your lawyer for a standard letter offering a settlement, it usually doesn't cost all that much and you can often even arrange for a payment plan. Of course, it's always best not to even let it come to that... see above.

[Auloria]

You don't get in trouble for downloading copyrighted material, you get in trouble for sharing it. Sharing is usually enabled by default when you use software like Bit Torrent.

[Masoner]

that is 100% fake.

if it was real then EVERYONE would be getting those.


Edit:

I'm sure you must have put your E-mail in some where and it is sending you some "trick" email.

Delete all the Emails and block the sender.