Letter from sky - GoldenEye claim I file shared!

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  • diamonds
    diamonds Posts: 6,048
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    Challenge them, I sent one letter for a BT Broadband customer threatening small claims for the amount asked, court costs and defamation of alleged criminal activity under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and unless proof was sent to validate their claim and payment requested as asked would be paid to themselves on production of such evidence, and as expected the issue disappeared in 2009 - its a complete scam, they want your cash.
    SO... now England its the Scots turn to say dont leave the UK, stay in Europe with us in the UK, dont let the tories fool you like they did us with empty lies... You will be leaving the UK aswell as Europe ;)
  • diamonds
    diamonds Posts: 6,048
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    edited 13 November 2015 at 5:47PM
    Brief outline

    Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the principal legislation covering intellectual property rights in the United Kingdom and the work to which it applies.
    Introduction
    Copyright law originated in the United Kingdom from a concept of common law; the Statute of Anne 1709. It became statutory with the passing of the Copyright Act 1911. The current act is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    Rights covered
    The law gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and typographical arrangement of published editions, rights to control the ways in which their material may be used.
    The rights cover; broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public.
    In many cases, the creator will also have the right to be identified as the author and to object to distortions of his work.
    International conventions give protection in most countries, subject to national laws.
    Types of work protected
    Literary
    song lyrics, manuscripts, manuals, computer programs, commercial documents, leaflets, newsletters & articles etc.
    Dramatic
    plays, dance, etc.
    Musical
    recordings and score.
    Artistic
    photography, painting, sculptures, architecture, technical drawings/diagrams, maps, logos.
    Typographical arrangement of published editions
    magazines, periodicals, etc.
    Sound recording
    may be recordings of other copyright works, e.g. musical and literary.
    Film
    video footage, films, broadcasts and cable programmes.
    The Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 extended the rules covering literary works to include computer programs.
    When rights occur
    Copyright is an automatic right and arises whenever an individual or company creates a work. To qualify, a work should be regarded as original, and exhibit a degree of labour, skill or judgement.
    Interpretation is related to the independent creation rather than the idea behind the creation. For example, your idea for a book would not itself be protected, but the actual content of a book you write would be. In other words, someone else is still entitled to write their own book around the same idea, provided they do not directly copy or adapt yours to do so.
    Names, titles, short phrases and colours are not generally considered unique or substantial enough to be covered, but a creation, such as a logo, that combines these elements may be.
    In short, work that expresses an idea may be protected, but not the idea behind it.
    Who owns a piece of work
    Normally the individual or collective who authored the work will exclusively own the work and is referred to as the ‘first owner of copyright’ under the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. However, if a work is produced as part of employment then the first owner will normally be the company that is the employer of the individual who created the work.
    Freelance or commissioned work will usually belong to the author of the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary, (i.e. in a contract for service).
    Just like any other asset, copyright may be transferred or sold by the copyright owner to another party.
    Rights cannot be claimed for any part of a work which is a copy taken from a previous work. For example, in a piece of music featuring samples from a previous work, the copyright of the samples would still remain with the original author.
    Only the owner, or his exclusive licensee can bring proceedings in the courts.
    Duration of copyright
    The 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act states the duration of copyright as;
    For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works
    70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last remaining author of the work dies.
    If the author is unknown, copyright will last for 70 years from end of the calendar year in which the work was created, although if it is made available to the public during that time, (by publication, authorised performance, broadcast, exhibition, etc.), then the duration will be 70 years from the end of the year that the work was first made available.
    Sound Recordings and broadcasts
    50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was created, or,
    if the work is released within that time: 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was first released.
    Films
    70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last principal director, author or composer dies.
    If the work is of unknown authorship: 70 years from end of the calendar year of creation, or if made available to the public in that time, 70 years from the end of the year the film was first made available.
    Typographical arrangement of published editions
    25 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was first published.
    Broadcasts and cable programmes
    50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the broadcast was made.
    Crown Copyright
    Crown copyright will exist in works made by an officer of the Crown, this includes items such as legislation and documents and reports produced by government bodies.
    Crown Copyright will last for a period of 125 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.
    If the work was commercially published within 75 years of the end of the calendar year in which it was made, Crown copyright will last for 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which it was published.
    Parliamentary Copyright
    Parliamentary Copyright will apply to work that is made by or under the direction or control of the House of Commons or the House of Lords and will last until 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was made.
    Restricted acts
    It is an offence to perform any of the following acts without the consent of the owner:
    Copy the work.
    Rent, lend or issue copies of the work to the public.
    Perform, broadcast or show the work in public.
    Adapt the work.
    The author of a work, or a director of a film may also have certain moral rights:
    The right to be identified as the author.
    Right to object to derogatory treatment.
    Acts that are allowed
    Fair dealing is a term used to describe acts which are permitted to a certain degree without infringing the work, these acts are:
    Private and research study purposes.
    Performance, copies or lending for educational purposes.
    Criticism and news reporting.
    Incidental inclusion.
    Copies and lending by librarians.
    Format shifting or back up of a work you own for personal use.
    Caricature, parody or pastiche.
    Acts for the purposes of royal commissions, statutory enquiries, judicial proceedings and parliamentary purposes.
    Recording of broadcasts for the purposes of listening to or viewing at a more convenient time, this is known as time shifting.
    Producing a back up copy for personal use of a computer program.



    More info:
    Intellectual Property Office
    Concept House
    Cardiff Road
    Newport
    South Wales
    NP10 8QQ
    Tel: 0300 300 2000
    https://www.ipo.gov.uk


    PRS for Music (Performing Rights Society)
    29-33 Berners Street
    London
    W1P 4AA
    Tel. (0207) 580 5544
    https://www.prsformusic.com


    Copyright Licensing Agency
    Saffron House
    6-10 Kirby Street
    London
    EC1N 8TS
    Tel. 020 7400 3100
    https://www.cla.co.uk
    SO... now England its the Scots turn to say dont leave the UK, stay in Europe with us in the UK, dont let the tories fool you like they did us with empty lies... You will be leaving the UK aswell as Europe ;)
  • diamonds
    diamonds Posts: 6,048
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Forumite
    Full legislation (amendments of April 2015 not yet added) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/48/contents
    SO... now England its the Scots turn to say dont leave the UK, stay in Europe with us in the UK, dont let the tories fool you like they did us with empty lies... You will be leaving the UK aswell as Europe ;)
  • Peirre
    Peirre Posts: 16 Forumite
    Its well know that those using torrent sites to download copyright material are easy to trace, & over several years there have been widely publicised stories of various site being forced to close. This is why downloading material without using a VPN are leaving themselves open to being sued.
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
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    They simply put up a movie or such and then monitor those connecting to it .
  • paulfoel
    paulfoel Posts: 5,811
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    diamonds wrote: »
    Challenge them, I sent one letter for a BT Broadband customer threatening small claims for the amount asked, court costs and defamation of alleged criminal activity under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and unless proof was sent to validate their claim and payment requested as asked would be paid to themselves on production of such evidence, and as expected the issue disappeared in 2009 - its a complete scam, they want your cash.

    Ha ha. That does sound like fun.
    Cymru am Byth !!! :j:j:j
  • rizla_king
    rizla_king Posts: 2,895 Forumite
    Still rolling rolling rolling...... :) <
    SIGNATURE - Not part of post
  • MataNui
    MataNui Posts: 1,075 Forumite
    I cant see how they could possibly get anywhere in court.

    An IP address cant be used to identify a person. There are 7 people who legitimately have access to the wifi network in my house. There are 15 who have access to the wifi in my mums house (and my mum isnt one of them).

    Even if they tried to stick it on the account holder there are other big problems with their arguments.

    If this was a criminal case an IP address (even reliably obtained) wouldnt get to court. The CPS wouldnt touch a case like that with a barge pole. Without other information it probably wouldnt even get a knock on your door by the police. To get to court would require hard evidence obtained by forensic examination of hard drives etc.

    Then there is the 'reliably obtained' thing. If they want to take the case to court they would need to supply your legal representation with the full technical details of how the address was obtained and how they tracked it back to you. There are some pretty reliable ways to obtain a users identity but an IP isnt one of them.
  • securityguy
    securityguy Posts: 2,462
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    The ACS:Law case was thrown out, with the company going bust and the main driver being struck off (or a least suspended) and, as I recall, also going personally bankrupt.

    It's unlikely another trip around the houses will be any more successful.

    Were I the recipient of such a letter I think I would be tempted (after talking to suitably scary lawyers to check my ground - luckily I know the barrister who represented the defendants in the ACS:Law case) to write them an Arkell v Pressdram letter. I suspect it would be the last I'd hear from them: they're looking for the low-hanging fruit, and last time around were very, very reluctant to get into a court with opponents who were spoiling for a fight.

    However, I've got the financial means to risk such an action without it being financially disastrous: if they're speculatively invoicing £750 the most it stands to cost would be a couple of grand, which would be painful but survivable, and taking a tiny risk with couple of grand to invalidate an invoice for £750 is decent betting odds. It does, however, rely on having the couple of grand. But I do, so thast means that I could afford to take the (extremely small) risk of losing and still sleep at nights, and have the fun of seeing their cartoony lawyers in court.
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