TorrentFreak

As the United States recoils in horror at the rapid acceleration of so-called ‘speculative invoicing’ schemes designed to force cash from alleged file-sharers, over in Europe the Germans are showing how it’s really done. According to information published by Germany’s Internet industry association, rightsholders there are targeting 300,000 alleged file-sharers every month – a staggering 3.6 million a year.

After being honored with an Oscar for best motion picture last year, the makers of The Hurt Locker have now also secured the award for the biggest file-sharing lawsuit the world has ever witnessed. By targeting at least 24,583 alleged BitTorrent users, Voltage Pictures hopes to recoup millions of dollars in settlements to compensate the studio for piracy-related losses.

The mass lawsuits against alleged BitTorrent users in the United States that have been keeping the courts busy over the past several months are turning into a roller-coaster ride. Last week thousands of defendants celebrated a victory when they had their cases dropped, but just a few days later a judge ignored all procedural issues and gave the green light for the mass-lawsuits to continue.

Thousands of accused BitTorrent downloaders – including those of The Hurt Locker – can breathe a sigh of relief as their cases have been dropped. In what can be described as a major victory for those targeted, the complicated nature of these mass-lawsuits has forced the copyright holders to dump nearly all the defendants and rethink their strategy. Slowly, it appears that the US Copyright Group’s campaign to turn piracy into profit is crumbling.

With worldwide box-office grosses totalling $274 million since its premiere in August of last year, The Expendables can be classified as a modest blockbuster. The film also did well on file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent, but thus far without any direct revenues. In an attempt to cash in on these unauthorized downloads, the makers of the film stood by an earlier warning and sued 6,500 BitTorrent users in the United States.

The avalanche of copyright infringement lawsuits in the United States, mainly against BitTorrent users, are about to hit a dubious milestone. In total 99,924 defendants have been sued in the last 12 months, and new cases are being filed at a rapid rate. Adult companies in particular have embraced the profitable pay-up-or-else scheme where tens of millions of dollars are at stake.

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, aka the U.S. Copyright Group, have gained quite a name for themselves during the last 12 months with their attempts to turn BitTorrent piracy into profit. After making waves with the Far Cry and Hurt Locker cases the company has just announced they have a new client. Soon people who downloaded The Expendables last year could have USCG knocking on their door looking for hard cash.